


For the Love of a Chat

by CoffeeComicsGalore



Series: Promptly Accurate [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Best Friends, Developing Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Marichat May, Marichat May 2020, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pre-Relationship, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 37,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23950159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeComicsGalore/pseuds/CoffeeComicsGalore
Summary: Chat Noir enjoyed his playful visits with this amazing girl that treats him with kindness on both sides of the mask. After a year of visiting and an akuma that turned him into an actual cat, Chat realized one thing: that his everyday ladybug was more than just his best friend.A story of friendships to lovers for Marichat May 2020.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Promptly Accurate [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726573
Comments: 461
Kudos: 555





	1. Witch AU

“I cannot believe this stupid hat won’t come off!” Marinette groaned while up on her balcony. She was looking over the railing to see where the akuma flew off to. “Tikki? Is this going to affect me when I transform?” 

“Hmm. I’m not sure, Marinette.” The little sprite said helping her look in the opposite direction. “The worst that could happen is that when you transform, your hat will just stay on your head. Maybe you can subconsciously think to remove it or at least change colors when you transform. But just in case, we need to hurry up so Chat Noir doesn’t see it and–“ 

Marinette’s eyes shot open at the sudden quietness from the kwami. She stood still, straining to hear what was going on around her. Instead of hearing the akuma flying around or the tapping of the familiar boots of the boy in fake leather, she heard a loud meow that echoed in the alcove of the rooftop. 

She turned quickly and noticed that it was indeed her partner, but what she was not expecting was that the usual boy in a super suit was now a boy completely covered in black fur. The ears on top of his normally blonde locks were real and twitched with every noise, a black fuzzy tail was in place of his belt, and his large gold bell sat perfectly on a neon green collar that was now on his neck. 

“Oh no, Chat!” Marinette cried running over to him, feeling the black fur underneath her fingertips. “You’re an actual cat?” 

“Meow?” He purred with sad kitten eyes. 

She worried her bottom lip. “And you can’t talk?” 

Chat Noir just sadly shook his head. “Meow.” 

Marinette placed a careful hand on his cheek and he nuzzled his pink button nose up against it. She could feel a purr rumbling in his chest. 

“Wonderful... Have you seen Ladybug?” That was such a stupid question but it’s not like she could just not pretend to be curious about his partner. 

“Nope!” Chat started to giggle. 

She slapped his arm. “Oh, come on, Chat. I seriously thought the akuma turned you into an actual cat!” 

“Come on, Mari. Don’t you like the fur?” He said as he gestured to his new exterior. “Speaking of _witch_ … I like the newest addition to your wardrobe. I guess I’m the cat to your craft.” 

Marinette grimaced as she touched her hat. It was a pink witch’s hat with black lace adorned along the sides. A black feather was attached to the brim alongside a red rose. “Oh, you mean this old thing? Yeah, this absolutely gorgeous hat was just lying around in my closet and I decided that I just had to wear it today of all days.” 

Chat just laughed. “Man, Mari. Your sarcasm is strong today.” 

“Well, there’s only so many letter changes and words that rhyme with witch that I could use.” She said playfully while not wanting to let out the swear in front of the cat boy. 

“Well, I would love to play hangman to figure that word out,” he winked at the joke, “but I have an akuma to catch. Hopefully milady is working on a reverse spell as we speak and be able to bring the witches, warlocks, and _black cats_ back to their human versions soon. I’ll see you later, ma petite sorcière.” 

Chat bowed once more before leaping off the balcony on all fours. “That boy will be the death of me.”

Tikki flew out of her hiding spot. “Well then, we better go and break that spell!”

Marinette groaned. “Not you too, Tikki.” 

She just giggled. “Let’s go, Marinette. The sooner we do, the faster you can come back and be free of that hat!”

“Fine then. Tikki? Spots on!” 

* * *

Ladybug arrived at the Louvre to witness Chat Noir bantering with the akuma. 

“-no need to get your stockings in a bunch!” He said as she touched down to the ground. 

“You will pay for saying that you mangy cat.” 

“Excuse me, Sorceress, but I have a bell and tag.” Chat Noir said as he tapped the two metal pieces against each other. “That means I’m a happy house cat.” 

Ladybug just shook her head. “Glad to see you’re mostly okay, Chat.” 

“Ah, finally, milady!” Chat Noir happily added. “And I can see that you are now a pretty witch.” 

Ladybug groaned. “Yeah. I thought it made a great addition to my outfit.” She said as she gestured to her suit. 

“It almost matches. What’s odd is that it’s pink though. Hm. I feel like I’ve seen that hat before.”

Ladybug mentally slapped herself. Even though she asked Tikki to change the pink to red, it looks like the akuma’s power put a stop to that change. She had to think fast. “Uh, maybe? But... I had seen quite a few hats like mine on the way here! Yeah. That’s probably why.”

“Maybe that’s what it was then.” Chat shrugged. “Care to help me break the spell, LB?” 

She smiled. “Let’s do it then.” 

* * *

After a half an hour of battle and a random lucky charm that took two tries to work, the akuma was defeated. Before she threw the pocket watch into the air, Chat Noir stood beside her and flicked the feather on her hat. Ladybug responded in kind by doing the same to his tag. 

“Pink is a good color on you. You’ll have to add it to your civilian attire if you don’t do so already.” Chat joked. 

She tiled her head. “What can I say. Pink is my favorite color.” She giggled. “What’s surprising to me is that you have a tag, Chat Noir. Was there a name etched to it? A phone number maybe?” She teased. 

“You know what? I didn’t even check.” Chat looked down to the tag and his smile shifted to a curious frown. “Huh.” 

“What’s wrong, Chat?” Her playful joke turned into a serious tone. “Please don’t tell me your civilian name is on there.” 

“No! No. Not my name, per se. But someone else's. I just wasn’t expecting her name.” 

“ _Her_ name?” 

His frown turned into a soft smile. “Yeah. She’s my best friend. You know her actually. Remember Multimouse?” 

Her heart stopped beating. It was _her_ name? She had to feign innocence on that one. She shook her head and looked at the tag and confirmed what he said was true. 

What surprised her more was that he considered her to be his best friend. They had barely known each outside of her suit until the last year. Yeah, he came to visit her at least a day or two a week, but she didn’t realize those little moments together would make her on his top list of friends. 

She threw the lucky charm and helped the victim back up to her feet. After ensuring she was okay, Ladybug turned to see that Chat Noir had turned back into his superhero self and that her hat was now gone. She still had another two minutes to go, and so did he, but her curiosity to his earlier comment was nibbling at her insides. 

She cleared her throat. “Hey Chat?” 

“Yeah, Bug?” 

“Why weren’t you expecting that girl’s name on your tag?” She asked, quietly. 

He let out a sad sigh. “You know I’ve told you how my civilian life is a little difficult due to some circumstances, and I can’t explain them or else I would oust my identity?” Ladybug nodded. “Well, Marinette has been my saving grace for the last year. She’s helped me so much and she doesn’t even know it. Sometimes I wish I could tell her who I was, but I know I can’t. And don’t worry, I won’t. But Marinette...” He let out another sigh, but this time he looked enamored, “she’s such an amazing girl. I just wish she saw me in the same way.” 

Ladybug shot him a sad smile. “Chat, anyone would be foolish to not like you.” 

A round of beeps rang through the open space. “Sorry, milady, but superhero duties have to stop me from feeling like that. The last thing I want to do is have Hawkmoth use her against us.” 

She smiled and placed a comforting hand to his bicep. “Well Chat, please know that you are amazing in your own right. You thinking of her safety first is enough to confirm that.” 

“Thanks, LB. I’ll... see you next time.” With a bow, Chat was gone. 

* * *

Marinette sat on her lawn chair as she snuggled up to the blanket. The sun was setting, and the nighttime skyline helped cool down the warm autumn air. She stared out into the horizon, thinking over the words that Chat had said earlier. 

There was something that bothered her about his words. It wasn’t the fact that _her name_ was the one the tag – it was an honor to hold that position in his heart – but what bothered her more was the fact that none of his family member’s names were on it. 

She gave herself a sad smile as she continued to stare. A pair of taps brought her back to the balcony and she smiled without turning to the noise. 

“Good evening, Chat. Fancy seeing you here twice in one day.” 

"Only the fanciest for you, princess."


	2. Bell

Marinette giggled. “Then I’m glad you are here, my knight.” 

Chat smiled as he walked towards her and sat onto the extra chair that Marinette had placed long ago. When his visits became more frequent, she changed her long lawn chair for a smaller, more compact one with pink trim and purchased a similar one, with black and green embellishments, just for him. When he felt comfortable enough in his spot, he glanced at her before turning back into the horizon. 

“So, what brings you here, Chat?” 

“Do I have to have a reason to hang out with my favorite civilian?” 

Marinette snorted. “Me? Your favorite? I guess that means you hang out with quite a few others, then.” 

“On contraire, ma petite sorcière.” He said with a wink. “Unless you think hanging out with akumas would be considered hanging out with friends.” 

“I don’t think so, but...” she said as she tapped her finger to her chin, “I hope you aren’t spilling your secret identity to me, kitty.” She teased. “It seems like many of the akumas are school-aged friends of mine.” 

Chat playfully scoffed. “You wound me, princess. You know I would never do such a thing.” 

“I know.” Marinette quietly giggled as she pulled the blanket up against her shoulders. Chat scooted himself further into his chair, resting his arms behind his head as he stretched his legs out in front of him. They sat in a comfortable silence, watching the lights of the city over the horizon. 

The coolness of the air caused a shiver to coast down her spine. She snuggled further into the blanket as a sad smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. Marinette could hear Chat lick his lips, her own lips dry and feeling a little tight. Her heart skipped a beat as the thought of his lips crossed her mind. She shook her head to clear the thought. 

“Do you think you will stay a while?” Marinette wondered as she gazed back to his relaxed form. 

“I can, if you’re okay with that. I don’t want to impose if you wanted to head to bed early.” 

She scoffed. “Me? Early?” She blew a raspberry as she flicked her hand. “Who do you think I am, Chat? A savage that goes to bed at a decent time? Blasphemy.” They both shared a laugh before she continued. “Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to have a cup of hot cocoa and a warm blanket? Maybe enjoy some pastries, too? I have a feeling that you have something on your mind and that you needed a friend to talk about it.” 

Chat sighed. “You know me too well. Maybe too well for your own good.” He let out a sad chuckle. “Hot cocoa sounds great. I’ll grab the blankets?” 

“That sounds good. Do you need detransform for a bit so your kwami can eat?” 

“You don’t mind if I do that?” 

“Chaton, you know I never mind that. I can always grab a slice of cheese if you need a piece. I’ll close my trap door so you can do what you need to do and when you transform back, just open the door so I can come back in. That way you can take your time and I won’t accidentally barge in before you’re ready.” 

“You always think of me, Marinette. Thank you.” 

She placed a hand on his hand and flashed him a sweet smile. “I’m always here to help out my favorite superhero.” 

* * *

Marinette closed the trap door after handing him a few slices of brie and walked into the kitchen to gather the ingredients for her famous hot cocoa. She warmed up the milk in the saucepan and grabbed two large mugs before leveling out a few teaspoons of cocoa and sugar into each cup. She then found a few of his favorite pastries within the day's leftover treats. Tikki flew into view and sat on the counter, stealing a cookie for herself. 

“What’s on your mind, Marinette?” 

“It’s Chat. It’s breaking my heart to see him this way. It also doesn’t help that the akuma earlier brought out some sadness in him. I have a feeling that’s why he’s here.” 

“You read him so well, Marinette. You care about him so much.” 

Marinette poured the heated milk in the mugs as she pursed her lips. “Chat’s not only my partner, Tikki, I consider him one of my closest and dearest friends. He’s up there alongside Alya for top space, not that I could ever tell her that without risking a scolding,” she giggled, “but I care about him just as much as I care about Adrien and Nino, too. “ 

Tikki flew up and nuzzled against Marinette’s cheek. “This is why you’re the perfect Ladybug. You care deeply with your heart and are always determined to help with every fiber of your being.” 

“Thanks, Tikki.” She said as she nudged her finger against her head. Marinette then heard the trap door open and then Chat walk onto the balcony. “Now let me bring these up for us to eat and chat.” 

* * *

Marinette and Chat sipped on their cocoa as the pastries sat idly on the table. They each narrowed their eyes towards each other, waiting for someone to strike first. Then in a quick motion, they both stuck out their clenched fists and smacked it against their open palm three times until they ended the beats with their chosen weapon. 

“Ha! Paper beats rock! I win!” Marinette said as she grabbed the last éclair on the plate. 

Chat downplayed the score. “I let you win. I didn’t want that éclair anyways.” 

“Aww. The kitten is mad. Don’t worry, there’s another one downstairs that I can grab.” 

He sputtered. “Then why did we fight for it?” 

“Because it’s just better to compete a little for it. Plus, I like watching you lose. Your pout is cute.” 

“My pout is not cute.” He brought the mug to his lips to hide said pout. 

“Yes, it is and you know it.” 

Chat smirked into his cup. “Fine. You win... again.” 

“So, since I win...” Marinette placed her mug onto the table and snuggled back into her blanket, “why don’t you tell me why you’re really here. There’s no pressure, but I know you like to talk it out whenever you can.” 

“Okay.” He let out a defeated sigh. “Do you know how I came by today and looked like an actual cat because Sorceress turned me into one?” She nodded. “Well, I had a tag beside my bell. I noticed it, but not sure if you did.” 

“No. You were too busy scaring me with your meowing.” 

“That was so funny.” 

“No, it wasn’t and you know it.” 

“Yes, but that’s beside the point. So, back to the tag. I was surprised by what I saw. On the tag, I mean. Ladybug asked if my civilian name was on it and it scared me that that was a possibility. But luckily it wasn’t and I’m grateful for that. Last thing I needed was for the world to know who I was because of a nametag. But what I wasn’t expecting was the name on the nametag.” 

Marinette watched as Chat huffed out a bitter laugh. “You would think that being in a home, even as lonely as mine, you would still have at least one family member that cares about you. At least enough care that the name would be on it. But that wasn’t the case. I guess it was never the case.” 

Marinette just sat there listening to every word he had to say. Tears were brimming her eyes and she tried her hardest to just listen without crying. 

“I’ve never told anyone this, not even Ladybug, but the reason I have a bell around my neck is because I’ve always wanted a loving home. Kind of like a cat who finally has a home to call their own. The fact that this tag had someone else’s name on it just proved what I always felt was true, but I continuously denied it to avoid the pain. 

“Marinette, your name was on my tag. Not my father’s, not my late mother’s, not even my aunt or cousin or grandparents. It was _your_ name.” 

Tears brimmed his own eyes as her eyes shed theirs. “Marinette, you are my best friend. I come to you when I have a hard time because you never shoo me away. You always care, always listen, and you never judge me. I feel free when I come here and I know it’s not a façade that you put up just to deal with me. I know this is who you are and you have no idea how much your kindness makes me feel. 

“I just want to thank you. The last year has made me the happiest, longer than I can remember. I know I’ve never told you this before, and I’m sorry for dumping this all on you. But just- thank you. Thank you so much for being you.” 

Marinette jumped up and engulfed him in a tight hug. “Chat. You will always be considered family to me, never forget that. I will never shoo you away for anything and I will always be here whenever you need me. Asleep or not. Wake me up, steal me away, I don’t care. If you need me, find me. I’ll always be here for you.” 

All he could do was squeeze her harder as the tears fell down his face. He answered her with a simple whisper, one barely enough to be heard above their erratic heartbeats, “Thank you.” 


	3. Mouse

Usually, bad luck doesn’t follow Marinette around. But if she had to guess anything, then she would have to guess that the large black cat that spent countless hours with her must have rubbed some of the superstition off onto her. But she knew that wasn’t true and she wouldn’t blame this terrible day on him; she was just frustrated with how the day turned out. 

First, she was late to school. But it wasn’t her normal late – no. It was borderline, middle-of-the-first-class-and-missed-homeroom-completely kind of late. This also resulted in her receiving an hour of detention after school in lieu of having her parents called up for the disruption. 

Then, she opted to eat her lunch at school because Adrien was actually allowed to eat with their close nit group of friends for once. She was excited to find out that today’s lunch was a delicious tomato bisque with a side of baguettes and a chocolate cake for dessert - one of her favorites - and yet she somehow “slipped” on Lila’s bag, falling flat on her back and spilling the entire contents of the tray over her shirt and pants. 

After Adrien and Nino helped her up and Alya handed her a handful of wet and dry paper towels to clean herself off, she knew she would not be able to get home in time to shower and change into new clothes without getting herself another detention slip. Being in a high school that was now a 15-minute walk away caused more trouble than it was worth some days. So, she reluctantly decided to just deal with the disaster for the remainder of the day until Alya offered her an extra pair of her gym shorts while Adrien offered her an extra shirt that he kept in his locker for situations like this. 

Now wearing clothes twice her size (since Alya was a tad bit curvier than her and Adrien was officially over 6 feet tall with toned muscles in all the right places), she tried to walk up the steps to her seat in her History class when her rolled up shorts accidentally slipped off her hips and fell to her ankles in front of the entire class. 

Out of the bad luck she did have today, she was grateful that Adrien’s shirt was long enough to cover her butt with at least an inch under the curve for safety, but it was still long enough to avoid giving the boys a peep-show with her underwear. The only problem was that if she tried to bend down to grab the article of clothing herself, she would indeed give them all a show of a lifetime. So now here she was, stuck in place as she stared to the floor, calculating how she could do it before the embarrassment took over. 

Luckily, Adrien was standing slightly behind her when it happened and witnessed the gawking nature of the classmates around them. When he looked at Marinette’s face, he could see the terrified and embarrassed look as she stared at the ground. Without thinking of what it might look like, he jumped in to protect her the easiest way he knew how. 

He kneeled down on the step she was standing on and stared into her eyes. Without removing his eyes from her line of sight to show her that he was _not_ going to look up her shirt to get a glimpse of her crotch, he grabbed onto her shorts and quickly slid them up her legs, guiding them up until her fingertips reached the waistband. As soon as she felt them, she grabbed onto them just as quickly and placed them back onto her hips. 

Marinette was still too stunned at what happened to move, her form still frozen as she stared into his eyes. Adrien understood what was going through her mind so he straightened himself up and grabbed onto her hand, helping her to their joined desks. As soon as she sat down, he placed a comforting hand onto her back to rub soothing circles, giving her the chance to faceplant onto the table and hide under the backpack that she placed onto the back of her head. 

When Marinette finally left school after spending an hour in detention, she was so mentally exhausted that she sat on the stairs and covered her face with her hands just to hold in the frustrated tears that tried to escape. She sat there for some time, just allowing the cool breeze to surround her and give her a sense of grounding. When she felt ready enough to head home, she picked up her bag and held onto her shorts, shuffling down the street in a slow speed. 

But of course, a bad day couldn’t just be over that easily. As she was making a mental list of what she needed to do that night, a motorbike stormed down the sidewalk instead of the road. Marinette noticed the situation a bit too late, jumping out of the way and falling butt first into an open trash can, promptly getting herself stuck. 

She tried to find a way to get out, but all hope was useless. She let out a strangled groan as her head bobbed forward and allowed the tears to flow down her face, soaking her bangs and shirt in the process. Marinette brought her palms to her eyes to hide from the world around her, sobbing into her hands for a few minutes until she heard a familiar thud in front of her. 

“Does the princess need her knight in shining leather to save her from the grasp of the dreaded trash dragon?” Chat Noir said as he bowed, his hand outstretched towards her. 

Marinette looked up at him, her cheeks now covered with mascara streaks, and just sobbed harder back down into her palms. Chat’s eyes widened as his heart plummeted, quickly picking her up from the trash can bridal style and into the comfort of his arms. 

She grabbed onto his neck and placed her face into his sternum as she continued to cry. 

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” 

Marinette looked up at him with sadness still in her eyes. She snuggled up against his chest as she tightened her grip around his neck. She didn’t want to let him go, and it seemed like he was reluctant to do the same. 

“Hey.” He nosed at her hair. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Bad day.” She mumbled. “Just terrible. Bad thing after bad thing.” 

“Tell me about it.” 

“Late to school. Detention. Food destroyed my new outfit. Pants fell in class. My best guy friend picked up my pants. Overall? Embarrassing.” 

“Well, I won’t let anything else happen to you, okay?” 

With her face still hiding in his chest, Marinette let out a wet sigh and mumbled, “okay.” 

“How about I get you home? Via Chat express?” 

Marinette let out a small smiled when an akuma alert rang out from her phone. Her smile disappeared and he groaned. 

“Hey.” Chat said, sadly. “I have to go. But I’m going to bring you home first.” 

Marinette shook her head. “You need to go. I’ll be okay.” 

“It’s not that much further away. I can get there in two minutes. It will be okay and Ladybug is probably already there. I would feel much better if I knew you were home and safe.” 

Marinette let out a defeated sigh and whispered an okay. Chat pulled out his baton and brought them to the sky, allowing him to easily soar across the rooftops while holding her closely to his body. As soon as he arrived to her balcony, he dropped her off and planted a chaste kiss to her forehead, then retreated with promises that he would be back before heading for battle. 

* * *

Throughout the fight, both Ladybug and Chat Noir looked sad and distracted, but they both trudged forward as best they could. The akuma took a bit longer than normal and Ladybug could see that Chat didn’t seem like himself. He didn’t flirt or pun at any point, the lack of actions making Ladybug feel slightly concerned for her partner. Once they did their customary fist bump and victim check, Ladybug turned to him as she worried her bottom lip. 

“Hey Chat? Are you okay?” 

“No?” He let out a small laugh, but he wasn’t really joking. “Just... things.” 

Ladybug placed a hand on his forearm, trying to ease him with a bit of comfort. “You know you can talk to me, right?” 

He shuffled awkwardly and then huffed out a hearty breath. “Listen, you will probably tell me no, and you have every right to, but I was wondering if I could borrow the mouse miraculous tonight.” 

Ladybug looked at him in both wonder and confusion. He’s not one to ask for much, especially something like this, and he knows how dangerous it is for a miraculous to be out into circulation. So, for him to ask is quite peculiar. 

“What for, Chat?” She whispered as she clutched her yo-yo against her chest. “You know how dangerous this is.” 

Chat hugged himself and scuffed his foot against the ground. “Well, I happened to help Marinette out this afternoon and she looked pretty upset today. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me the gist of it. But I felt bad leaving her when the akuma alert rang out. I was wondering, if it’s okay, if I just let her use it tonight to clear her head. I promise to get it back and we can meet up so I can give it back to you.” 

Ladybug looked at him sadly. “But you know she compromised her identity. She can’t have it, even for tonight.” 

“But what if she changes her outfit? Make her look like a completely different user.” He looked at his partner with pleading kitten eyes, the same eyes that kill her every time he uses them. 

Ladybug thought it over. He was doing this for her without even knowing it. But before she could give him another no, Chat interrupted her with one last pleading effort. 

“LB? Listen. I want to help her. She has helped me so much and sat there with me when I cried the day Sorceress attacked a few weeks ago. I want to repay her with the same comfort that she gave me. I know this is crossing the line, but I do have patrol tonight. Let me take her under my wing and let her stretch her legs, that way we can still work while she lets out some steam.” 

Ladybug gave him a small, but tender, smile. “Okay. Meet me at Francois Du Pont in fifteen minutes and I will get you Mullo. Bring Marinette home first and then I will meet you at the Eiffel Tower at midnight to grab the miraculous back.” 

Chat pulled her into a hug and Ladybug hugged him back. “You are the best, LB. Thank you.” 


	4. Thief

Chat Noir, the ever-excited kitty that he was, positioned himself in front of Marinette as they sat comfortably on her bed. She chuckled as she watched him waggle from the excitement. 

After the akuma attack, Chat kept to his promise and had come by her balcony, enveloping her in a hug when he saw that she was safe and sound. It also delighted him further when he noticed that along with a small smile on her face, she was no longer exhausted from crying. When Marinette asked him why he was in such a good mood, he jumped from one foot to the other with his claws clasped together against his chest, the only thing he said was, “I have the best surprise for you.” 

Marinette, not wanting to give away what she already knew, tilted her head and furrowed her brows, twisting her lips into a pleasant smile. “Fine, kitty. But let’s go to my room first. It’s a little chilly tonight.” 

So, there they were, sitting on Marinette’s bed while Chat tried his best (and failing) to hold in his excitement. 

“So, what is this surprise you wanted to show me?” Marinette inquired. 

“Well.... do you want to do something fun? You know, let out some of that frustrated steam from your terrible day?” 

She feigned confusion. “What do you have in mind?” 

Chat finally stopped fidgeting and held out his hand. “Marinette, this is the miraculous of the mouse. Usually there’s this really cool speech that Ladybug likes to give, but because there’s no akuma and we are doing this for fun, with a bit of structured patrol mixed in, I’m just going to say be nice, have fun, and make sure I get this back or Ladybug will have my tail.” 

Marinette bit her lip as she tried to hold back a laugh. “So, is this your version of a cat giving his human a mouse?” 

Chat dropped his jaw in disbelief. “Did you... did you just make a joke?” 

“Well, you did tell me that my name was on your tag. Doesn’t that usually mean I’m your human? If that’s the case, it looks like your presenting me with a gift? Kind of like a cat giving his owner a mouse.” 

“I can’t believe this.” He said, exasperated. “That’s it. I’m taking it back. This was a bad idea.” 

Marinette scrunched her nose as she teased him. “You’re just mad that I stole your joke before you had a chance to say it.” 

He scoffed, but then shrunk as he looked back at her, his disgruntled features wrinkling his mask. “You’re mean.” 

Marinette couldn’t keep her straight face any longer as she tumbled into a fit of giggles. Chat crossed his arms and looked away from her. A _humph_ left his lips. 

“Alright, alright. Stop pouting.” 

“Fine. But only because I really want to play a game while we work.” 

“Oh yeah? And what game are you thinking of, kitty?” 

A mischievous gleam flashed across his eyes. “Want to play a game of Cat and Mouse? 

Marinette narrowed her eyes as she thought it over. An impish grin crossed her lips. “Well, I guess then I need to take this, now don’t I? 

Marinette grabbed the miraculous and said her hello to Mullo. She had informed the kwami their plan earlier that evening, ensuring that the mouse wouldn’t blow Marinette’s identity accidentally. 

“Oh, hello Marinette!” The little kwami smiled brightly as she played along. “It’s nice to see you again! Ladybug informed me that you won’t be using me to help with an akuma, but she has also requested that you change your outfit due to the compromise. To do that, all you need to do is imagine it in your mind. When you are ready, use the transformation phrase and we can go!” 

When Marinette felt she was ready, she carefully placed the necklace on her neck, smiling a ‘thank you’ to chat without words. 

“Mullo? Get squeaky!” A pink glow surrounded her and Chat averted his eyes from the bright light. 

“Woah.” Chat said when she turned into Multimouse. “I don’t get see transformations happen in front of me very often. The last time I did it was with Chloe and that was years ago.” 

Marinette had to hold the urge to scoff at the girl’s name. Instead she looked down to inspect her new outfit. She replaced the gray, black, and pink skin tight suit that she had once worn with a gray top into an ombre pinkish white skirt dress that had white trim down the seams of the outfit. Her sleeves were also gray until it reached her forearms, where it turned into white gloves. She stuck with black leggings that had an ombre affect until it reached her white shoes. Her hair was now a deep black in color but was put up in it its signature space buns, with braids going from the nape of her neck up to the bun itself to create an extra formal look. She still used the jump rope as a tail, finishing the look as it was tied to her waist. 

“Ready to go, Mousinette?” 

“Let’s go.” 

* * *

Chat Noir and Multimouse danced along the rooftops in a friendly game of chase. The chaser (the cat) would choose a spot across the city and the chasee (the mouse) would run across the rooftops until they made it to the spot. If the cat captured the mouse before they reached the spot, then they would claim another spot and the game would start again. But if the mouse won the round, they would switch and would become the cat. 

Since the game started, Multimouse had a lead on wins, her score being 6 to Chat’s 3. 

“It’s supposed to be cat catching the mouse, not a mouse catching the cat!” Chat Noir said, panting as he leaned against a chimney. 

“Sorry, Chat, but a mouse has to be fast to avoid being captured.” She giggled. “Want to try again?” 

For the umpteenth time tonight, Chat scrunched his face in displeasure as he grabbed his baton to check the time. 

“You’re going to ruin your pretty face with wrinkles if you keep doing that.” She teased. 

Chat smiled brightly. “You think I’m pretty?” 

She rolled her eyes. “I said your face is pretty. Now are you up for another round? I’d like to beat you a few more times before we try out patrol.” 

Chat Noir narrowed his eyes while a dimpled, lopsided smile gave her a glimpse of his pearly white teeth. He pushed himself off the wall and then sauntered up to her until he was a few centimeters apart, giving him the chance to run his fingers up her arm. She looked up at him, her eyes glossy in wonder as she looked deep into his emerald hues. She could feel her heart race a bit, but she knew it wasn’t due to the constant running of their game. 

She swallowed thickly as his fingers ended at her chin, lifting it and holding her gaze to his ever so carefully. With a low and sultry tone, he looked into her eyes and whispered, “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful your eyes look in the moonlight?” 

She tried to speak but was too enamored to move. 

He looked down to her lips as he licked his own. “Did you know that by me saying this I can do one thing that you might not expect?” 

“Wha- what’s that?” She stuttered. She looked down to his lips and then back to his eyes as he slowly moved in closer, removing his hand from her face and placing both on the curves above her hips. 

“This!” He cackled, grabbing onto the rope and spinning her away from him causing him to pull it off of her in one swift motion. When the dizziness subsided, she eyed the rooftops to find out where the cat had gone. As soon as she spotted him, she yelled. 

“You come back here with my tail, you thief!” 

With a hearty laugh, Chat Noir bolted off onto the next rooftop, the jump rope flapping in the wind behind him. “You have to come catch me first, Mousy!” 


	5. Dare

“I still can’t believe you did that.” Multimouse stated as they sat side by side on the edge of a rooftop overlooking the Seine. 

Chat shrugged as he threw a small rock into the water. “What can I say? I had to capture your tail one way or another.” 

“You literally took my tail.” She deadpanned. 

“But then you took mine and threw it into the garbage can three stories below us.” 

“And you deserved it.” She retorted, sticking her tongue out for good measure. 

Chat chuckled as he looked at the water. The conversation dulled into a comfortable silence between them. 

“Thank you.” Marinette said, quietly. If it wasn’t for his increased sense of hearing, he would have missed it. 

He looked to her, capturing her eyes for a small moment before she looked back at the water. 

“For what?” 

“For helping me get out of the trash dragon.” They giggled. “No, but seriously. Thank you for being my friend and making me smile. Thank you for thinking of me and finding a way to make me feel better. It was really sweet of you to ask Ladybug and allow me to borrow this.” She picked up the necklace and twirled it in her fingertips. “It must have been difficult to do so since I ruined it for myself. But most of all, thank you for helping me get out of my own head.” 

Chat watched as she gazed out into the quietness of the water, her shoulders slumped forward before letting out a sigh. She looked down to her feet and fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke. “Honestly, I’ve been so tired lately. Tired of my responsibilities, tired of being everything to everyone and doing everything all at once... I’m just tired of always trying to be perfect. But being here, being out tonight with you, helped me forget all those things. It was nice to just be me and no one else for a second.” 

Chat scooted closer to her; his heart warmed at her words. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, guiding her to lean against him. As soon as she did, he rubbed his fingers against her bicep in soothing up and down motions. “Listen, I’ll always be around you and be there for you. I told you, I consider you one of my best friends and I’ll do whatever it takes to help you.” He let out a sigh filled with both heaviness and longing. “I just wish I could tell you who I am. I wish we could hang out like this all the time and I wish I could just help you take those burdens from your shoulders.” 

Multimouse looked up at him and could feel the truth of his words. She felt wistful knowing that she couldn’t just tell him who she really was. Ever since she became guardian, the weight of the world crushed her to the ground, and while she had been handling it at a relatively optimistically, she still wished she could just tell him who she was in hopes that he could help carry those burdens with her. 

Yet the world continued to spin as she was here with him, even as a civilian instead of her superhero form, and he helped her rid of those burdens even for just a moment. It was a sense of recharge for her, but she hated that she had to lie to her partner in this way. 

“You take more burdens off my shoulders than you can believe.” She whispered. Chat looked back at her with a tight smile. “I wish I could know who you are for the same reasons. But I wish I could help you take your burdens away from you, too.” 

* * *

Adrien scraped through the open window of his room and landed in a crouch as he let go of his transformation. He sat at the computer chair to mess around online. 

Plagg let out a little growl as he floated before his chosen. 

“So how many more times are you going to see your girlfriend this week?” Plagg said before zipping through the air until he reached his beloved cheese stash. 

“She’s not my girlfriend, Plagg. She’s my best friend. I’ve told you that.” 

“Uh-huh. Sure. And I’m the president of the kwamis.” 

Adrien furrowed his brows as he thought about the idea of president kwamis. “Wait, do kwamis have a president? Like do one of the kwamis make the rules over the others?” 

Plagg, now sitting on his desk with a wheel of Camembert, stared at Adrien from in disbelief, his slacked jaw open wide. His hands were raised as if he was questioning his chosen’s common sense to the situation. “Really, out of all that, you are just going to ask me if we have a president?” 

“It’s a valid question.” 

“NO!” Plagg hissed. “If you want to call someone a president, then the guardian is it.” 

“So, since Ladybug is the guardian, Tikki is considered second-in-command?” 

Plagg understood that Adrien was avoiding the girlfriend topic. But he wasn’t going to let it go that easily. “Oh, no, no, no, kitten. We are talking about this. I’m sick and tired of the love sick mushiness over the last four years. I’m tired of it. First Ladybug, now Marinette? You need to talk about this!” 

“What for? Marinette is not my girlfriend. Plain and simple. She’s not interested in anyone, or me like that, for that matter. You would think that being one of her best friends in _and_ out of the mask, she would have at least said something if she was interested in someone, but yet she’s never mentioned anyone.” 

“Yeah right. Did she outright say she wasn't interested in anyone? You better figure that out, because I don’t think she is. Remember when you used to think she was dating Luka and the entire thing was a huge misunderstanding? That was an awkward 10 months.” 

“But that doesn’t mean she likes me.” Adrien frowned, his tone sounding bittersweet. “She’s amazing, Plagg. Anyone would be lucky to have her as a girlfriend.” 

Plagg couldn’t roll his eyes hard enough. “Truth or Dare.” 

Adrien turned to look at him, confused. “What?” 

“You heard me. Truth or Dare?” 

“Uh, truth?” 

“Do you have feelings for Marinette.” It wasn’t a question, not really anyways. 

Adrien looked at him, horrified. “I meant to say dare.” 

“I’ll make you do both truth and dare if you don’t answer my question.” 

Adrien decided to take the threat seriously. “Okay. I like Marinette. I think I have for a while. But I don’t think sh-” 

“Bah, buh, buh, buh.“ Plagg interrupted with his paw raised towards his face. “Since you like Marinette and you think she doesn’t like you back, then I have a proposition for you.” 

Adrien narrowed his eyes curiously. “What kind of proposition?” 

“I’ll lay off the extra wheels of cheese for a whole week and stick to the basics.” 

“Okay, I’m listening.” 

Plagg smirked mischievously. “Then I dare you to ask her on a date.” 

Adrien sputtered. “Wha- what?!” 


	6. Hold My Baton

“You heard me. Ask the girl out on a date.” Plagg said with a mischievous gleam in his eye. He had crossed his arms and shot him a look like this was the most obvious solution in the world. 

“I can’t ask her out. She doesn’t even like me like that!” Adrien hissed. 

The kwami groaned. “How do you know she doesn’t like you?” 

“Because she likes Luka.” 

Plagg dragged his paws down his face before gawking disconcertingly at him. “When was the last time Marinette hung out with Luka? Does she talk about him? Does she have a lovesick grin whenever he’s mentioned?” 

“Well, no? And no. And the last time they hung out was before he left for tour.” 

“Alright. So now that we have roadblock number one out of the way, you can ask her out!” 

“Plagg, every time I asked her if she liked me like that, she said no. So, I already know she doesn’t see me that way. At least, not as Adrien. We are just better off as friends, I guess.” Adrien quipped with a sad tone. 

“That was years ago. The last time I remember you two talking about feelings was when you played that prank on her at the wax museum, which was so funny by the way.” 

“No, it wasn’t. I was mortified! I thought I was going to lose her as a friend that day.” Adrien said, glumly. 

“But you didn’t.” 

“You’re right, I didn’t. And she’s become such an amazing friend since then. Yeah, I would like more, but how? She seems to really like me as Chat Noir, though. Maybe I can ask her that way?” 

Plagg tilted his head. “Really, kid? You’re going to go and ask her as Chat Noir? You think it’s a good idea to date a civilian as a superhero? Things might get complicated really quickly.” 

“You’re right. Maybe I could try better as Adrien and try it that way?” 

“That sounds like a great plan. But if you can excuse me, this is enough gross love stuff that I am willing to deal with at the moment.” 

Plagg zipped away to his loft along with another wheel of cheese for his troubles. Adrien stood there as he thought about what the kwami had said. Was Marinette really finding a way into his heart? The one that seemed broken between his failed love confessions to Ladybug and the lack of love at home? 

Marinette was always the first one to notice something was wrong on both sides of the mask. As Adrien, she liked to take care of him the way friends do, sometimes more than he’s seen his other friends being treated. There were times that she pulled him aside to give him her Marinette hugs, then placed his favorite sweet in his hand before walking away. No words ever need to be exchanged between the two – it was like they were in sync and knew what the other needed. 

As Chat Noir, she would butter him up with croissants and hot cocoa until he was comfortable enough to talk, but she never pushed him to do so. She always had this sweet look on her face that just made you want to spill your secrets. Well, almost every secret, but she knew a lot more about him on both sides than most of his friends combined. 

Adrien smiled as he thought of her. “I think a special visit to the princess is in order.” 

Before Plagg could protest, he called upon his transformation. “Plagg. Claws out.” 

* * *

“Here. Hold my baton.” 

“Why?” Marinette questioned; her eyes furrowed with slight hesitancy. 

“Because, I need to grab something and I need two hands to grab it.” 

“But don’t you have a holster?” She asked, confused. 

“Please?” 

Marinette grabbed the baton and held it in her hand. “Okay, I’m holding it. Now what?” 

Chat Noir turned around and kneeled down with his back facing her. He then grabbed her arms and lifted her up onto his back, prompting Marinette to lose a little balance and wrap her arms around his neck for stability. 

“Chat!” She bellowed. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m taking you on a magic carpet ride!” 

“On your back?” She said flatly. 

“Yup!” He added with a nod. He held his hand out. “Can I have my baton back?” 

“Then why did you give it to me in the first place?” 

“Because the last time I put you on my back, the baton was in an awkward position and I ended up touching your butt. Can’t be a gentlecat and touch your butt at the same time. That’s highly inappropriate. Especially since you are wearing a dress.” 

Marinette blushed and buried her face into his shoulder. “Oh god. I forgot about that!” 

“No worries.” He said squeezing her hand. “I want to take you somewhere so hold on tight, okay?” 

“Okay.” 

Chat jumped rooftop to rooftop yelling out “ _Chat express coming through_ ” every once in a while making her roll her eyes and laugh. When he got close to his destination, he asked Marinette to close her eyes. 

“You’re not peeking, right?” 

Marinette snuggled the upper half of her face into the grooves of his back, physically showing her promise that she could not see. “Mhm.” came out the muffled yes to prove her point. 

Chat stifled a laugh before pausing in his movements. He slowly slid her down his back until her feet planted firmly against the ground, then twirled around in his spot until he was face to face with her. Grabbing both her hands, he led her slowly to the end of their travels. 

“Okay. Just stand here one more moment then you can open your eyes at my words.” 

Marinette couldn’t contain the happy nerves that were building in her stomach. “O-kay” She finally let out, her head nodding along with her words. 

Chat took one step back as he watched her stand there. She stood with her head straight towards him, her teeth grazing her bottom lip, and her hands entwined together in front of her. She was still wearing the olive sleeveless sundress with a cream cardigan and cream ballet flats that she had worn to school earlier that day. Her hair was down and the moonlight only highlighted the features that peaked through the silky locks. 

Adrien remembered the moment she walked into the classroom earlier that morning. He was talking to Nino and midway through his sentence, he caught the figure walking through the door, her fingers pulling a loose lock of hair behind her ear as she walked in shyly beside him. Nino had to snap his fingers and then shake him to bring him back to earth, which only caused Adrien to blush and bury his head into his books instead of greeting the blue-eyed beauty. 

But watching her here, under the glorious moonlight with the stars brightly shining above their heads, he couldn’t help but fall deeper into the abyss as he tried to figure his feelings for her. 

“Okay, open.” 

Marinette opened her eyes and gasped. She placed a hand to her mouth as she looked around to see a picnic set up on a rooftop overlooking the park. He had laid down a blanket and set up some candles to help light the area. Chat grabbed her hand and led her to a spot on the blanket, and she sat comfortably until he sat down too. 

“What’s all this for?” 

“I just wanted to treat you. You work so hard and you help me all the time. I feel like your doing it more and more these days.” 

She placed a hand on his bicep. “You are the sweetest, Chat. I don’t deserve a friend like you.” 

“You deserve the world princess,” he lifted her hand and placed a kiss to her knuckle, “and I’ll gladly be the knight of your castle if you let me.” 

“Chat...” she warned. 

Not wanting tension in his little setup, he opted to refuse what she needed to say. “Shhhh. Eat up.” 

Marinette looked at him with a curious glow, her lips quirked into a slight smile. She grabbed a cookie and nibbled on it as she looked back over the balcony to see the set up for the movie that would happen the next night. 

“Hey Chat?” 

Chat had stuffed a macaron into his mouth, but shot up and looked at her with a fattened cheek. 

“Hmhph?” 

She giggled before letting out a calm sigh. “What do you say about coming to watch a movie at the park tomorrow night.” She looked down at her fingers. “With me?” 

Chat choked on his treat before swallowing it whole. 

“Are you asking me out on a date?” 

Her eyes widened and she thrusted her arms in front of her in a nervous gesture. “No! No. Not at all. Unless you don’t want it to be. Or you do want it to be. Maybe just as friends? It would be weird. This is weird. I’m sorry. Never mind. Ignore me.” 

Chat grabbed onto her arms to calm her down. “Hey. I was just joking.” He gave her a genuine smile. “I would love to watch a movie with you.” She smiled back as she brushed a stray hair behind her ear. “Wait, how would this work?” 

Marinette shot him a devious smirk. “Oh, I have a plan.” 


	7. Disguise

“Tikki! What did I just do?” Marinette cried out. She was pacing the room frantically.

“It seems like you asked Chat Noir out on a date.”  Tikki said, stating the obvious.

“Buy why!”

“Well, Marinette? Why did you ask him to the movies?”

Marinette groaned as she pulled on her pigtails. “I DON’T KNOW!” 

“Come on, Marinette. Think about it. It seems like you’re fond of that cat, maybe more than you care to admit. You know what they say about feeding cats scraps.” She giggled. “Now you’ll never get rid of him!”

“But, TIkki, Chat is my best friend. The last thing I want to do is hurt him. And yes, I am fond of him. He’s got so much going on under that superhero exterior and he needs to get it all out. I want to be there for him whichever way he needs me. But that doesn’t mean I wanted to say it was a date. He got me all flustered!”

Tikki eyed her carefully. “Marinette, you never actually said it was a date. Chat assumed it was by the way you acted and he went with it. Doesn’t mean you have to make it a date.”

Marinette took a deep breath. “You’re right,  Tikki . It doesn’t mean it has to a date. I’ll just apologize to him tomorrow when I see him. Hopefully, he doesn’t go all too romantic over it.”

“Knowing him?”  Tikki giggled. “He’ll probably make it over the top!”

“Great....” Marinette said as she turned her head. A photo on her tack board caught her eye. She looked over the array of photos that she had collected over the last year. Her board was filled with photos of her and her friends, and over the last year, she had slowly added real photos of Adrien, plus quite a few of Chat Noir. 

She grabbed one of Chat's photos and rubbed a finger over his face. Over the last year, her friendship with Chat Noir grew from being  acquaintances  to best friends, but even though she hasn’t admitted it out loud, she has noted that there is something a little more between them. She can feel it in her heart, and with him coming over more and more often, she has been able to see a side of him that no one else has. That small advantage, which in reality was quite large, helped her learn that Chat Noir was a normal teenage boy that had way too many responsibilities in his life and didn’t have a loving family as he once did. He reminded her a lot of Adrien and now both boys were competing for space in her heart.

She tried so hard to deny it, trying to keep her love for Adrien only, but it was a wonder that the competition between the two boys didn’t break her heart into pieces. 

But she knew it may never work out between her and Adrien. He had told her years ago that Marinette is his friend and that he loved another girl. But Chat? Chat loved Ladybug even though he hasn’t said it since she became the guardian. So, was her heart playing tricks or was he flirting with her and yearning for notice from the two blonde boys in her life?

* * *

“Nice job, lover boy. You were supposed to ask her out as Adrien and now you’re taking her out as Chat?”

Adrien sputtered. “I didn’t even ask her out! All I did was ask her if it was a date. It’s not my fault she got so flustered she word vomited all over me. It’s like she was acting like she did when she first met Adrien-me. I wonder if I made her nervous.” 

Plagg smacked his face.  _ I cannot believe I have to live with this. _ “But you started it. What boy who’s trying to figure out his feelings, takes the same girl to a nighttime picnic under the stars.”

Adrien shrugged. “I wanted to treat her for being there for me. I wasn’t expecting her to ask me about the movie.” He thought it over. “Oh god, Plagg, what if she was just repaying me for the picnic by going out to a movie, and because I asked her if it was a date and she got nervous, she just let me believe it was!”

Plagg only shook his head. “So, now that you are going out with Marinette, what are you going to do?”

“I have no idea. Bring her flowers? Maybe? But that makes it seem like a date and I don’t want to make her more uncomfortable than she already is. She asked me to meet her at her balcony before we head to the theater, so I think I’ll just talk to her then?

“I think that sounds like a good idea.” 

* * *

Chat dropped down to the balcony where Marinette was waiting for him. Dressed in blue jeans, a large pink sweater, and her hair pulled into a bun, she looked beautiful under the pink and orange hues from the sunset. 

He bowed to her and handed her a single white rose which she happily accepted and brought to her nose to relish in the fragrance. When she felt  compelled to, she patted the chair beside her. 

“Please sit. I think we need to talk.”

He nodded and sat down, letting go of a nervous sigh.

“I wanted to  apologize for yesterday,” he started. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable saying that this was a date. It’s not.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I didn’t mean for it to be a date, I just wanted to return the thank you. Listen Chat, any girl would be lucky to have you.” He rolled her eyes and she knew that it was in response to Ladybug’s rejections. “But you have to remember, you deserve someone that will love you with their whole heart, not just part of it. And when that person comes around, make sure you sweep her off her feet.” She finished with a wink.

Chat gave her a barely-there smile. “I know. It’s just hard and honestly, I’m starting to understand the  dueling hearts feeling.”

Marinette gave him a sympathetic smile. “Why don’t we get ready so we can go to the movies?”

“Let’s go then.”

* * *

“I cannot believe you made me wear this disguise.” Chat said as he walked beside her towards the park. 

Marinette had handed Chat a pair of loose khaki slacks and a white button-down shirt with  a forest-green sweater to put on over his suit. He wore a black beanie to hide his ears, and wore a large pair of sunglasses to hide his mask. He kept his hands in his pockets and used his black boots as his shoes. 

“It’s working, isn’t it?”

Chat looked around and shrugged. “I guess. But we could have also sat on that rooftop and watched it above everyone.”

“You’re right, we could have. But I really wanted to sit on a blanket and eat snacks with you. It’ll be dark soon and no one will see your hands or your mask.”

“Alright, you brought up a good case. I guess that means you win princess.” 

Marinette snorted. “I’m glad you see it my way, then.”

Marinette paid for the tickets to get in and found the perfect spot on the grass to lay her blanket on. She set it down and grabbed a few pillows, plus added the extra blankets to keep themselves warm (and for possible kitty cuddles). 

“Are you comfortable?” Marinette asked as she leaned against the pillow.

“I am. Thanks Marinette. You know, this is the first time I've come to one of these.”

Marinette pursed her lips. “Really? You parents never let you out to enjoy yourself?”

“Nope,” Chat stated as he popped the ’p’, “I’ve only been to one other movie and I went with my other best friend.”

“That- that makes me so sad. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m used to it.” He said, downtrodden.

“You know what?” Chat looked at her confused while a sweet smile crested her lips, “I’m glad I asked you on this non-date.”

He smiled. “I’m glad you did too.”


	8. Don't Tell Me What to Do

Marinette spent the walk home holding onto Chat Noir’s arm. They were giggling over the movie, talking about how the protagonist falls in love but the boy is too oblivious to know how that whole thing works. The girl spent most of the movie with her best girlfriends trying to get the boy’s attention, only for him to notice her at the very end. Full on romantic comedy that both seemed to enjoy. 

“I still can’t believe how oblivious he was!” Chat cried out, his free arm flailing around at how absurd the whole thing was. “Can someone seriously be that dumb?” 

Marinette shook her head. “Oh, I know someone like that. It’s pitiful, but what can you do?” 

Chat looked at her. “You know someone like that – completely oblivious to the point he can’t figure out social clues that obvious?” 

“Yup.” She giggled. “But I really don’t want to talk about that right now. I’m on a non-date with you!” 

“Oh, come on. You can’t give me a clue as to who he is? It’s not like you have an identity to keep secret.” 

Marinette nibbled her bottom lip to think if she should. After a small moment, she finally came to a decision. “Nope. He’s my best friend. Not going to smear his good name just because you want the tea.” 

“The tea?” He straightened his neck. “What’s that?” 

“You know – the gossip. Spilling the goods. Kermit the frog?” 

“Oohhhhh,” he stretched out the word. “The tea. Gotcha.” 

“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” 

“Nope. Not one bit.” 

Marinette just shook her head. “I’m just going to move on from this conversation. Did you at least have a good time?” 

“I did, princess. Did you?” 

“I did. I haven’t done anything like this in a while. And I really don’t think anyone saw us, and if they did, then they were discreet about it.” 

“Well hopefully, we won’t see any pictures on social media over it.” 

Marinette hummed in agreement. They continued to walk alongside each other in a comfortable silence, Chat first breaking it to look at his non-date. 

“Are you tired yet?” 

“Not particularly.” She took out her phone and checked the time. “Oh, it’s still early. It’s only 21H. What are you thinking?” 

“Well, I don’t have to be home anytime soon, so how about we drop these bags off at your apartment and then I can take you on a midnight stroll around France. Above the rooftops, I mean.” 

Marinette tilted her head and gave him a shy smile. “I would love that.” Her voice was low and mellow and it caused his heart to flutter. 

Chat stood in front of Marinette’s home and watched her walk in. 

She turned to him and giggled against her palm. “Come on. I don’t think you want to walk around Paris with that outfit on, even if it does look good on you.” 

He looked down at his outfit and then looked back at her and smiled. “You sure? I mean, I do like the color green. You’re right. It does look good on me.” 

“The last thing I need is for you to rip them while galivanting. Remember, I let you borrow these clothes and they aren’t even mine. They’re my friend’s. He left it here after his last photoshoot and I haven’t had a chance to give it back yet.” 

“Should I be concerned that my princess is being shared with another?” She scoffed and slapped his arm. “I’m just kidding!” 

“I’m just grateful that you guys are the same size or else I would have had to put you in a dress.” She winked. “So, you should be too.” 

He placed his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine. I’m grateful for Mr. Model then.” 

She placed a finger against her lips to tell him to keep his voice down. By this point, her parents were already asleep; they needed to get up early for their early morning baking. “Come on up. It will only take me a second and then we can escape from the balcony.” 

“Sounds good.” 

When the blankets and pillows were put away and the borrowed clothes were placed in the hamper, they climbed up to the balcony and Marinette waited for Chat to give her his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and scooched herself comfortably against him until she felt safe and secured on his back. He turned his face towards her and waited for her beaming smile. 

“Ready?” 

“Let’s go.” 

Chat bolted to the sky, bouncing from one rooftop to the other until he reached the Notre-Dame Cathedral. He sat her down near one of the large spindles and she proceeded to watch him as he looked out from the rooftop for his next destination. 

He decided to move up to one of the mast posts to get a better view, but as he did so, he noticed how fun it was to spin around it. 

“Chat... I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You might fall and get hurt.” 

“Don’t tell me what to do.” He said as he stuck his tongue out for fun. “I do this all the time. It’ll be fine!” He assured her. 

She scowled at him. “Fine, but if you get hurt, I’m not going to take care of you.” 

“You wound me, princess. You’re going to allow this feline to lick his own wounds?” 

“Maybe. Just don’t do anything stupid and you won’t have to worry about it.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fi-” 

_“Chat!”_


	9. Cone of Shame

Chat slipped on a slippery shingle during one of his spins and fell backwards towards the rooftop. He twisted to land on his limbs, but instead landed on his wrist in the wrong position. 

“Meowch!” He cried out as he held onto his hand, trying to leverage the appendage from moving and causing more damage. 

Marinette ran as fast as she could without slipping on the tiles herself, and kneeled down to inspect the limb. 

“You stupid cat! I told you not to do that!” 

Chat hissed in pain when she took his arm into her own hands. She poked it just enough to feel through the suit, then looked up at him as he reacted to the pain. 

“I think it might just be a sprain, but you won’t know until you take off your suit.” She stood back up and brushed off her knees. “I thought these suits were indestructible. They’re supposed to protect you! I guess they don’t protect from stupidity.” 

“Hey! That’s not nice.” 

“Says the boy who didn’t want to listen to me.” She said as she crossed her arms. She then looked back at him and saw his ears droop down to his hair. Guilt riddled her heart and she walked back over to him and placed a caring hand on his arm. 

“Hey.” She said quietly with a calm voice. “Let’s go back to my house. I’ll fix you up and I’ll make you some hot cocoa. Hmm?” 

Chat looked up with his eyes and nodded his head slowly. 

“Do you think you can bring us back? Or at least onto the ground?” 

“I think I might be able to, but you have to hold on to me as best you can. I’m just afraid to drop you.” 

“I’ll hold onto you tightly. I trust you not to drop me. It’s not that far of a walk. Just carefully bring us back to the ground and we can walk from there.” 

Chat calculated the best side of the cathedral to jump off of and then grabbed his baton to see if he could hold it with one hand. When he tried to move, his body shifted in a way that hurt his wrist. 

Marinette bit her lip and narrowed her eyes before letting out a nervous sigh. “Hold on, Chat.” 

He watched her as she pulled off her pink fluffy sweater, leaving her in a simple tank top. Chat blushed crimson as he stared at her bare shoulders and when she looked in his direction and saw the blush, Marinette ducked her head and did the same. 

“Ho-hold still, kay?” 

Chat, afraid to speak, simply nodded. Marinette carefully placed his arm against his body and then folded the body of the sweater and laid it against his arm. She then pulled one of the arms of the sweater diagonally across his shoulder and the other underneath his armpit and then tied the arms into a tight knot on his back. 

“How’s that?” 

Chat tried to shift his arm, and while there was still a little movement, the pain remained dull. “I think I’m okay, at least for right now.” 

She smiled “Okay, good.” 

Chat was able to bring Marinette and himself down the side of the cathedral with relative safety and they walked quietly beside each other until they made it to her home. There were moments that she shivered when a cold breeze swept passed them and Chat tried, but failed, to warm her up by wrapping his good arm around her shoulders. She only giggled at his persistent attitude, but assured him she would be fine. 

After they snuck quietly past her parents' room, Marinette ushered Chat into her bedroom and quickly tossed on a sweatshirt to keep them both from blushing any further. She looked at the bottom of her closet smirked, then eyed the cat with a mischievous gleam before turning back and grabbing the item. 

“Kitty?” She questioned, playfully. “I don’t have a mask for you to put on, but I can’t let you just sit there and lick your wounds while you wait for me to quickly get one made.” 

He eyed her carefully. “You want me to detransform?” 

She placed her hand on her hip. “Uh, yeah? How else am I going to check your wrist?” 

Chat cleared his throat. “Do you have a sweatshirt I can borrow, then? I don’t want to give myself away by my clothes.” 

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Fine, but first...” She sauntered over to him and placed a hand on his cheek. Chat’s eyes widened, more for shock than curiosity over the simple touch and he watched as her playful smile turned to one of mirth. He tried to take a step back but then she forcefully placed a travel neck pillow around his neck and snapped the front together to keep it in place. 

“Pr-princess!” He yelled, flabbergasted. “What is this for?” 

“Don’t need you to lick your wounds, kitty cat, so I thought I would be nice and give you the cone of shame – minus the cone of course. I don’t have a need for that here. But a travel pillow? Amazing substitute if I do say so myself.” 

Chat pouted as he crossed his free arm over his wrapped up one. “You wound me... literally!” 

“Next time, listen...” she tapped his nose with her finger, “...to...” another tap, “...me.” 

He grabbed onto her finger before she could pull it away and kissed the tip of it, but he didn’t let go. 

He lowered his tone into one packed with heat. “If you plan on taking care of me every single time I hurt myself,” he said with a smirk, “then maybe I should hurt myself more often.” 


	10. Can I Borrow Your Miraculous?

“Ch-Chat?” She stuttered; a blush now prominent on her cheeks. “What are- what are you doing?” 

Chat smiled, straightened himself up, and let go of her hand. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. All I’m saying is that if I get hurt, then I should come here and have you mend me up. That’s all.” 

Marinette lost all the heat on her cheeks and scrunched up her lips like she wanted to scold him for being so bold. “Sure.” She walked over to her desk and grabbed a piece of flowery fabric. “Since you wanted to be so bold, I think flowers are the way to go.” 

“Lucky for you, I look great in flowers.” 

She scowled at him and went back to work. She cut out a rectangular slip of fabric and brought it to his face to measure out the eye holes. Once she did, Marinette then affixed an elastic strap to the back of it and finished it up. 

The entire time Marinette worked on the makeshift flower mask, Chat rummaged around her room. He could only go so far since he still had pillow wrapped around his neck, but decided better than to remove it lest he get another scolding from Marinette. 

“You know you can take that off your neck, right?” She said without looking up at him. 

Chat quickly turned to her, amused at the situation. “You know, I’m feline pretty comfortable right now with this on. I may just take it from you.” 

“And be a petty thief? Stick with your day job, kitty. You’re too sweet to be a thief.” 

He scoffed. “How do you know I’m not some bad boy under this suit? I could be a ruthless killer. You don’t know.” 

“Yeah, a dork under the cat disguise is a gang leader who drinks copious amounts of beer, cat calls ladies, and steels pillows. Sure.” 

Chat laughed as Marinette finished the mask. She then got up and grabbed the extra zip up sweatshirt that she had lying around and brought it over to him. “Here. I’m going to run downstairs and grab some hot cocoa and a couple of pastries. Oh, and the first aid kit. Just try to keep my sweater around your wrist in case there is any damage.” 

“Alight, princess. I’ll try my best to put these on.” 

As Marinette walked away, Chat called off his transformation and felt the dull pain radiating from his wrist to his fingers. “Plagg? I thought my suit would protect me from getting hurt?” 

“It protects you from getting hurt during akuma attacks and patrols. Not while your acting foolish around your girlfriend.” 

He slipped on the mask and then turned to scowl at the kwami. “How many times do I have to tell you. She is not my girlfriend.” Adrien hissed. 

“And how many times do I have to tell you that you wish she was.” 

“Not now, Plagg.” He slowly pulled off Marinette’s sweater while keeping his wrist against his body and then carefully pulled on the arm of the new sweatshirt, sliding his injured arm slowly into the sleeve before placing the other arm into the other sleeve. 

“I brought some cheese up for Plagg, too.” Marinette said as she walked up the stairs. “I hope you don’t-” 

Marinette stopped at the top step when she looked over at Chat. 

Chat dropped his scowl into a frown. “What?” 

“You’re blonde. Like really blonde. And your eyes...” Marinette placed the tray down on the table and walked up to Chat and gently pushed his bangs away from his eyes. She just stared at them with sheer intensity that caused a shiver down his spine. Her voice remained low with demure. “They’re a gorgeous green.” 

Chat swallowed thickly and watched as she continued to brush his bangs. “Ye- yeah. I change the style, but my hair is blonde.” 

“Hmm.” She said lowering her gaze to his chest. “Let’s fix this up for you. Can’t have this poor stray go home injured.” 

Chat nodded. She carefully took his wrist and pulled the sleeve back before inspecting it, then laid one chaste kiss to this inside of his wrist. Chat swallowed again as she looked back up at him, her eyes gleaming with a sense of want. 

She looked back down to his wrist and rubbed her finger against it, checking for any possible injury that could be worse than he would state. 

“I think it's going to be fine in a few days. Looks like the super suit protected you better than you think.” 

Chat looked back at her and nodded, afraid to say something without stuttering something foolish. He finally had the courage to say something, but the moment he opened his mouth, a ring broke them apart. 

“Akuma.” Chat finally said, his voice low. “I have to go.” 

Marinette shook her head. “Can I borrow your miraculous? I mean...” she paused, remembering how foolish she sounded to herself, “do you think you should go out like this?” 

“I’ll be okay. I’ll tell Plagg to brace it for me. I can come back if you want me to?” 

Marinette nodded, not wanting to actually let him go. “Okay. I’ll see you soon.” 


	11. Chat Blanc

It took a few seconds before Chat could leave her presence. Something was eating at him to stay, but he knew he needed to leave in order for him to come back sooner rather than later. He squeezed her hand one more time, a sad smile lingered on his lips before turning to the staircase and head to the balcony. 

But before Chat Noir could escape through the hatch, a dusting of sparkling sand dusted onto the superhero. His eyes widened; he knew exactly who the akuma was. 

“Sandboy.” Chat whispered before turning around. His mind raced in thought as his body proactively turned to leap off the loft to protect Marinette before the akuma could coat her too. But he was too late. Marinette lifted her arms to eye the glittery dust that coated her body, her eyes just as wide when she realized what was going on. 

“No.” She said in a terrified whisper; tears were already forming in the corner of her eyes. 

“Marinette?” Chat scaled back down the ladder and grabbed onto her arms to steady her nerves. “Marinette. It’s going to be okay. Ladybug and I will take care of it.” 

Marinette looked up with fear in her eyes. “No. _No._ ” She loudly gasped, fear now emanate in her eyes. Her body was trembling, her hand covering a sob that tried to escape her lips, and she stepped back away from him until her back touched the wall. 

“Marinette?” Worry now laced his tone as he watched her reaction. He noticed that her blank stare was not towards him, but to something behind him. He slowly turned around, afraid to see what caused her skin to pale. 

Blue eyes. White Hair. White Suit. 

“Marinette!” The creature called out. “Why don’t you love me anymore? We could be so happy together.” 

Chat swallowed and blinked rapidly as he watched a crazed version of himself cry out with an eerie echo. 

“Marinette? Why do we have to be apart? Why can’t we be together?” 

Marinette slid to the ground as the tears fell down her face. 

“Chat Noir?” Chat called out to the creature in white. Blue eyes took his eyes off his love, but glared daggers into the ones of green. 

“I am not Chat Noir. I am Chat Blanc. It’s all _your_ fault that we cannot be together. You ruined this for _us!_ ” 

“What do you mean I ruined this for you? Marinette? What’s going on?” Fear now cracked his voice afraid of what his answer was to be. “Why are you afraid of-” 

“Kitty!” A fierce, yet raspy voice interrupted him as it echoed from a shadowed corner of the room. “Kitty? I hate you. I hate your stupid bell. I hate your pretty face. I only let you in this room because I feel sorry for you.” 

“Ma- Marinette?” Chat Noir looked back over to see that Marinette was still on the floor stalled in fear as she watched Chat Blanc walking slowly towards her as if he did not want to spook her further. He turned to the shadows to see another version of Marinette – one with black clothes and an angry look on her face – spitting venomous words towards him. 

“You’re right kitty. It is Marinette. But I don’t like you. I never liked you. You’re nothing to me. I just pity you. Pity your poor excuse of a sob story to care about you.” 

“No.” Chat Noir said, voiceless. He shook his head to clear his wandering thoughts. He knew that this was all an illusion; it was just his fears turning to reality. 

He turned back to the real Marinette and saw that Chat Blanc was closer to her than he was now. He took his baton and extended it, knocking Chat Blanc of balance and throwing him against the wall. He then ran to Marinette, picked her up bridal style, and slipped through the hatch to get her away from the two evil versions of themselves. He stopped on her balcony and tried to focus her face on his. 

“Marinette. Snap out of it.” Chat Noir stated, shaking her shoulders to get her back to reality. When Marinette finally looked into his eyes, she grabbed onto him struggling to find purchase against his skin tight suit. 

“Oh god, Chat. Please. Please get me away from him.” She mumbled into his chest. Her words sounding like a whispered plea. “Please.” 

Chat nodded and hopped over to the next roof and then onto the next, until he was running quickly through the arrondissement to find a place where he could safely put her down. When he finally got to a safe area, he grabbed onto her broken form, caressing her cheek with his clawed hand. “Marinette. Look at me.” 

Marinette, still tremulous over what she had seen, finally looked into green eyes. 

“Chat? Chat Noir?” She let out a wet sigh and wrapped her arms around him. She whispered, afraid that if she spoke louder, her words would cause the change in scenery to the one of the darkness in her room with the white cat taunting her with fear. 

“It’s me. It’s me, Marinette. I’m right here.” He cooed as he rubbed circles on her back. “Shhh. What happened? Why is there a Chat Blanc in your room?” 

“I can’t. I can’t talk about it. Please.” Fresh tears started to spill from her eyes. “Please. Just go defeat the akuma. Please.” 

Chat didn’t want to leave her, but he needed to defeat this so he could come back. He _needed_ to come back. She needed him and he wasn’t going to leave her alone to suffer any longer than she should. 

“I’ll be right back. Please stay here. I’ll find you as soon as I’m done and I promise I’ll finish this.” He wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly. “I’ll protect you. I promise.” 

Marinette nodded as she clung to him tightly. Slowly, she released him from her grasp, him doing the same, and watched his diminishing form as he bounced from rooftop to rooftop towards the akuma. 

“Tikki,” She called out quietly to the kwami as she cleaned her tear-streaked cheeks with the back of her hand, “we need- we need to hu- hurry.” 

“Marinette,” she stated calmly, trying to bring her attention to something other than her fear. “Did you notice who Chat was afraid of?” 

Marinette nodded. “I saw me, a glimpse of me, in the corner. I- I looked so evil. It was just like the evil Ladybug from the last time Sandboy came around. But it was so different. The words... it was worse than I ever said before.” 

Tikki looked at her chosen with sad eyes. “Are you okay, Marinette?” 

She sniffed and nodded. “I have to be. Chat needs me.” She stood up and took in a heavy breath to get rid of the anxiousness. “Okay, Tikki. Spots on.” 


	12. Kwami Swap

Defeating the akuma was no easy feat. While they had worked against Sandboy before, he was a little older and his dreams of chaos were a little rowdier. 

Chat Noir constantly looked over his shoulder. Every time he did so, his ears slumped low to his head in both sadness and fear. He didn’t want to see the evil version of Marinette again; the pain of those words, however untrue they were, still attacked at his heart. For someone who always declared the love for his lady, even if he wasn’t pursuing her no longer, Marinette’s words hurt much more than they did when evil Ladybug spewed her venomous words those years ago. 

He knew they weren’t true, but yet a spike wanted to poke the deepest parts of his brain to make him think it was true and that Marinette was hiding the truth. 

The thought alone brought bile to his throat, yet he promptly swallowed it down to continue the fight. 

Ladybug was faring the same, continuously looking around the area waiting for whatever fears were lurking in the shadows. 

“Chat. We need to hurry. I don’t want to see what I’ve been seeing since I’ve been hit. I hate to admit it, but I was paralyzed in fear when I saw it the first time. I can’t let myself get like that again.” 

Chat looked at her in sympathy. He knows that feeling; it happened to him before when the bars surrounded him in his room. But seeing the look in Ladybug’s eyes, the ones of lingering fear, reminded him so much of Marinette. Ladybug had a blank stare, and her focus was strictly on taking down the akuma with the least resistance as possible. 

“I agree. I don’t want to hear those fears either.” Chat said with a frown. Ladybug could see the tears starting to well in his eyes. She would have to remember to assure him later that none of those things evil Marinette was saying were true. 

After a vicious battle, they decided they needed to wait for the perfect opportunity to attack Sandboy. Eventually, Ladybug’s lucky charm helped give Chat the upper hand, using his claws the rip the pillow down the middle to allow the akuma to escape from its grasp. 

But right before Chat attacked the pillow with his claw, he noticed Ladybug quickly tense up and freeze. She quickly brushed the fear away to focus on capturing and purifying the butterfly, but Chat was quick to follow her gaze to where the illusion was. 

_Chat Blanc._

Once the white butterfly released from the yo-yo and the Miraculous Ladybug was called, Ladybug walked up to Chat Noir as if nothing happened and nonchalantly glanced towards to where the illusion was hiding before sighing a breath of relief. Chat, aware of her quick movements, turned a second after to glance in that direction to see that the illusion was gone. 

Pretending that he didn’t see his villainous self, Chat stuck his hand out for their customary fist bump and Ladybug asked if he could take the victim home since her timer was down to two spots. 

He crossed his arms and nodded his head to agree, his lips pursed with a tight smile as she fled off to what he assumed was home. 

* * *

“Thank you, Chat, for saving me.” Marinette said quietly as Chat carried her back to the balcony. She was sitting on the rooftop where he had left her before he had to leave her to fight in the battle. She felt cold and was still tremoring over the events. 

“I promised you I would protect you. I don’t like to break my promises. But rest assure, princess, I’ll always be here for you.” 

Marinette smiled as she curled up closer to his chest. When they dropped down to her balcony, Marinette grabbed onto his hand and led him back down the skylight to the warmth of her room. 

“Are you still wearing the mask?” 

Chat nodded and called off his transformation, leaving the flower mask in its place. 

She grabbed onto his hand and held it tightly. “You know I would never ever say anything like that to you, Chat. Ever. Everything you feared is false. You are my best friend Chat. I would never think less of you.” 

He looked up at her with a frown. She looked deep into his green eyes and tried to assure him with every fiber of her being. 

“I love your bell. It makes you, you. You have a pretty face, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You are so sweet, caring, and protective. I don’t pity you at all. I’m sad that you have to deal with your civilian life and I wish I could be there with you to get you through the day. But don’t think I don’t like you when I do.” 

“I know, Marinette. I know. I’m just scared to lose you as a friend. I like you, too.” He confessed, quietly. 

She smiled and reached in for a hug. “I promise you. You will never lose me as a friend. I will always be here for you.” 

“I know. And I’ll always be here for you too.” He looked at the time and saw that his kwami was sleeping peacefully on the blanket beside him. “I think I should go. It’s getting pretty late.” 

She bit her lip. “Do you have to leave?” 

Chat watched her closely. She had coiled herself up into a ball bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees. 

“Are you afraid to be alone after what you saw?” 

Marinette didn’t look into his eyes, but nodded to answer him. “He came into my dreams a year ago. I had recurring nightmares for a while and I didn’t know why. Finally, one day I stopped having them. It was actually when you started visiting me more often.” She finally had the courage to look up at him and she watched as he stared at her intently. 

She whispered so low he almost missed what she said. “I’m afraid that if I close my eyes, I will see him again.” 

A stray tear fell down her face. “I don’t want to be alone. Can you- can you please stay with me tonight?” 

Chat smiled and took wiped the tears from her cheek. “For you, princess? Of course.” 

* * *

Adrien laid on Marinette’s bed as she curled up against his side. She finally fell asleep after a bit of coaxing from him; her fears were distressing her a little too much. He stared at the ceiling and itched at the makeshift mask she made him, breathing in the smell of her shampoo and enjoying the warmth that was radiating off her small form. 

Plagg floated over to him sensing his distress. “You okay, kid?” 

“Yeah.” He chewed on his bottom lip as he continued to stare at the ceiling. He could feel Marinette shift in her sleep and snuggle closer to him, entwining her legs in between his. 

“I think Marinette is hiding something. Why would she have the same fear as Ladybug?” 

Plagg watched his chosen carefully, avoiding any sudden indication that Marinette and Ladybug were one in the same. “I’m not sure. Maybe you saw wrong?” 

Adrien pursed his lips. “I don’t think so, Plagg. It’s just too coincidental. White suit, my same build.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “But Marinette can’t be Ladybug. I saw them both together during our battle with Kwamibuster.” 

He ran his free hand through his hair. “Then again... do you remember when I helped Marinette with that photo shoot and I had to take off my ring? I vaguely remember, but I want to say that she took off her earrings. That was also the same day that we had to swap kwamis.” 

Plagg couldn’t contain his glare as Adrien started putting two and two together. He waved off Adrien’s thoughts. “That seems too coincidental. Like you said. You already saw Marinette and Ladybug together. There’s no way that Marinette is her.” 

“What if...” he paused; eyes wide with speculation. “What if Ladybug used the fox miraculous to create an illusion that day?” He looked over to his kwami. “I think Ladybug and Marinette are one in the same. No. I don’t think. I know.” 


	13. Flower Crown

Marinette softly opened her eyes and blinked away the blurriness as she stirred in her bed. She turned to the side and noticed the emptiness that only saddened her heart. A lone note was left on her bed and she smiled when she saw the paw print on the outside of it. She rubbed her eye and let out quiet yawn, finally sitting up to read the note. 

> _My dearest princess,_
> 
> _You were sleeping so peacefully after a stressful night that I did not want to wake you up to see me off. I hope that you won’t be too upset with this thoughtful kitty. But alas, I need to head home early this morning for civilian duties beyond my control, but I promise to come back and see you tonight._
> 
> _I hope you enjoy the day – it looks to be a beautiful and warm one._
> 
> _See you soon._
> 
> _Your kitty._

Marinette brought the note to her chest and smiled with content. Her heart warmed with love. _My kitty._ She started to like the sound of that. 

Tikki flew down from the balcony with a flower in her mouth to bid her chosen good morning. 

Marinette giggled as she picked the half-eaten flower from the kwami’s mouth. “I can see someone was enjoying the flowers.” Tikki ducked her head and giggled with her. 

“Sorry, Marinette! And good morning! I trust you slept well?” 

“I did, actually. Seeing _him_ again really scared me. I’m thankful that Chat stayed the night. I don’t think I would have been able to sleep without knowing he was here. But I also hate the fact that Chat saw him, too.” 

Tikki looked over her chosen with some worry, knowing full well the conversation that Adrien had with Plagg last night. But the question is, should she say anything? The fact that Bunnyx hadn’t arrived to fix the timeline again most likely meant that things were okay for now. It was also not her knowledge to share. 

“I understand your fears, Marinette. It was nice that he comforted you. But you need to decide whether telling Chat Noir the whole truth is better than the little lie you gave him instead.” 

“But then that would mean telling him I’m Ladybug. He can’t know my identity. What if Hawkmoth captures one of us? That would be a disaster!” 

“Like I said, you have to be the one to decide that. He may question it though.” 

Marinette wrapped her arms around her legs. “Well, I hope that little explanation was enough to hold him over.” 

Tikki could only nod. “What are you going to do today?” 

“Chat said it was going to be a beautiful day. I’m thinking of heading to the park and sketch. What do you think?” 

“I like that idea! Can you sit at the bench near the flower bushes? I want to spend my time smelling them.” 

“Of course, Tikki.” Marinette said as she rubbed her finger against the top of Tikki’s head. “Maybe I can try making a flower crown for you too.” 

Tikki’s eyes brightened and she spun around in happiness. “Oh, I love that idea! Let’s go!” 

* * *

Adrien escaped the confines of his dressing room to take in a breath of fresh hair. He barely slept; his mind was swimming with the knowledge that Marinette and Ladybug were one in the same. Plagg tried to convince him otherwise, but deep in his heart he knew. 

_At least this helped my dueling heart_ _dilemma_ _,_ he thought bitterly. 

But why would Marinette fear of him being akumatized? Did something happen and he wasn’t aware? Maybe he would just have to ask Ladybug part of herself and see what she would say. 

Adrien walked through the quiet park and kicked a rock with his shoe when he heard a sweet sound coming from the other corner. When he looked up, he smiled. 

“I wonder what Marinette is doing here.” He said quietly to himself as he hid behind a tree. When he looked around the trunk to peek, he noticed she was talking to herself – or likely chatting with Tikki – while her sketchbook laid open in her lap. 

He wondered if she was sketching some new dress ideas or maybe even a new outfit for her closet. Then he realized that she wasn’t drawing, but gathering flowers from the bushes beside her and gathering them on the book instead. 

_What was she doing?_

Feeling mischievous, Adrien looked around to see if there was anyone in the area before popping into the bush to quickly transform. He then jumped back out onto the pathway and began to walk towards her, whistling loudly to avoid startling her. 

Marinette slowly looked up to follow the noise and then smiled brightly towards his direction. 

His heart thumped loudly against his chest. 

“Chat!” She called out to him. He returned a bright smile towards her. 

“Hey Marinette,” he said sitting right beside her on the bench. “What are you doing today?” He leaned in and whispered. “Did you sleep well?” 

She giggled and matched his low tone. “Yes, I did. Thank you so much for staying with me last night. I haven’t slept like that in a long time.” She brought her voice back up to a normal octave. “I’m taking your advice and enjoying the beautiful weather today. What are you doing?” She looked around. “Is there an akuma?” 

“I don’t need an akuma to be out with the citizens! But honestly, a cat likes to stretch his paws in the sun. I went to take advantage and saw you picking flowers,” he gestured to the array of flowers on her sketchbook, “and I wanted to see what kind of fun you were having.” 

“Oh! I’m making flower crowns. See?” She picked up the small crown of pink and white flowers in a makeshift ring. 

“Oh, that’s so cool!” He squealed. He’s never had a crown made of flowers before. 

“Let me make you one!” She said excitedly. 

He went ahead and helped gather up some more flowers and she thanked him with a scratch behind his cat ear. Intertwining the stems of two flowers, she gave him a rundown of how it all worked. 

“Not too bad, huh?” She said, showing off the final product in her hands. 

“No, not at all!” Chat smiled, looking back at her in adoration. “It’s beautiful.” 

Smiling, Marinette gathered the crown and placed it on his head. “Perfect.” 

Chat’s heart fluttered at her words. Her eyes beamed in bliss and he couldn’t help the heat rising to his cheeks. He slowly lifted his claw and brought it up to her cheek, rubbing his thumb against her cheekbone with feather-like touches. 

“Actually,” he said with a smile that could kill a man, “you are.” 


	14. Chocolate

The blush on Marinette’s cheeks could probably be seen for miles. She shyly ducked her head while his hand lingered on her face, and she gathered the courage to nuzzle her cheek against his palm. It was full of warmth and tenderness with a dedication of hope for more moments to come. 

_Moments._ The last year had been a whirlwind of those moments - dorky puns, deep secrets, all the hot chocolate and pastries they could eat in one sitting, and of course the playful banter and sleepy cuddles – and while her heart had always been for Adrien, spending these special moments with Chat only deepened a feeling that she never thought would surface. 

Marinette finally opened up her glistening blue eyes and peered right into his gorgeous green orbs as a sense of calmness washed over her. She smiled back at him with a caring gaze and noticed the little wrinkles from his doting expression and the tender smile that tickled his cheeks. A little hint of blush could barely be seen, yet she caught it before it disappeared completely. 

Her heart swelled with so much emotion that tears threatened to prick the edges. The note, the flirting, the protection over the previous night...

Oh. 

_Oh._

Love. 

She felt like the love of her life was sitting right in front of her and the emotion the she had dared to keep away was now taking over her heart. She knew what she was feeling. She could feel the words on the tip of her tongue as the realization hit her hard. 

But what about the love she had for Adrien? The tender moments that had finally come between them over the last few months? She could finally form a coherent sentence around him and he seemed to enjoy her company whenever they were alone. There were little blushes, sweet hugs, and lots of carefree giggles... But even though they finally had a connection that sailed them past the awkward acquaintance stage over to the friendship stage, there was never anything more. 

Marinette always wondered what ever happened to the girl he was in love with. She had always seemed to think that Kagami was the girl he was after, but when their friendship never went further romantically, Marinette decided to keep her speculations to herself and support her friend in any way he needed. 

But that didn’t mean her heart was tearing up in her chest. Her rapid heartbeat, the confusing feelings, the two blonde boys with green eyes making her feel like complete mush inside. How would she ever be able to choose? 

She started to tear up and Chat worried his expression, not knowing the mental struggle that threatened her sanity. Instead, he feared that calling her perfect was not something she wanted to be told. 

Chat was about to pull his hand away from her face when she grabbed onto it and kissed the palm of it gently. She looked back up at him and decided that this little moment was not enough, so without further thinking, she quickly pulled his hand down from her face and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. 

Chat sat there frozen, not understanding what was going on, but was quick in his thoughts as he wrapped his arms around her waist. 

“Are you okay, Marinette?” He whispered into her ear slowly. 

Marinette nodded into the crook of his neck, afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would confess the feelings the were terrorizing her heart and her brain. She sat there for a moment longer than intended, but he didn’t rush her or push her to end the physical comfort that she so desperately craved. 

When she finally felt the extreme vibrations of emotions leave her body into a comfortable hum, she removed herself from his grasp slowly, keeping her head low to keep him from seeing her darkened cheeks. 

He held onto the hand that laid idly in her lap and brought his other hand to her chin, lifting it carefully so he could look into her eyes. He kept his voice low and dreamlike to keep up with the ambience that surrounded them. 

“Hey.” He said with a smile. “I have to go back to my civilian duty, _ma_ _chouchoutte_. But I should be done in about an hour. Do you think you’ll be around for a little while longer?” 

“I can be if you promise you’ll come back.” 

Bringing his face closer to hers, their noses almost touching and their breaths intermingling between them, Chat smiled, “I’ll never break my promise to you.” 

“Then I’ll see you soon.” 

He slowly lifted himself up from the seat, bending back down to place a lingering peck to her cheek. 

“I’ll see you soon, mi- Marinette.” 


	15. Friendship

Marinette watched as Chat stood back up, leaving his hand in hers for a second longer than probably necessary. When he felt ready, he turned around and walked towards the edge of the park, turning his torso slightly to face her, then beamed her one last smile alongside a slight wave. He then faced back towards the street as he removed his baton, extending himself out of view. 

The smile that lingered on her lips could light up the nighttime sky, but then sighed to break the intensity of it. Her pursed lips remained as she cleaned off her sketchbook of the flowers, then promptly sketched cat-like eyes and faux ears in the corners of a blank page. 

“Tikki?” She said quietly. 

The little god sprung from the branch she was hiding under. “Yes, Marinette?” 

“Is it wrong to love two boys at the same time?” She furrowed her brows. “When Chat said I was perfect, it seemed like the entire world just fell around me. I love Adrien, I always have even if he doesn’t feel the same. I can’t let go of it. But the love I feel for Chat? It’s... different.” 

“What do you mean?” Tikki asked as a notification text chimed in her purse. 

Marinette opened her bag to fetch the phone as she continued. “The love I have for Adrien feels warm. It feels happy. I’m enjoying the fact that our friendship is growing and that the connections we made as friends have been so worthwhile. The more I learn about Adrien, the deeper in love I feel for him. The infatuation is gone, and what’s left is wholesome. 

“But the love I feel for Chat Noir? It feels protective. It feels safe. I mean, I feel safe. It makes me feel fuzzy inside. I just want to sit there and hold him tight, make him feel protected like the way he makes me feel protected. Learning about a side of him that I was never able to learn as Ladybug has opened up my eyes to how sweet, sincere, and loving he is. 

“The fact that my heart is going crazy for these two boys seems so frustrating. I know Chat loves Ladybug; he’s said so himself many times. Adrien loves someone else; I just wish I knew who that girl was, but of course I would never ask him about that. It seems somewhat cruel I’m in love with them both when I’m not sure either feels any feelings towards me, in this way I mean.” She said, gesturing to her civilian self. “I know how stupid that sounds because I’m Ladybug, but I guess I'm just confused and afraid.” 

“It’s okay to feel that way Marinette. I think that if you could convince yourself to talk to either boy and mention your feelings, maybe something good could come out of it!” 

Marinette rolled her eyes at the idea. She then woke up her phone and noticed that Alya had sent her a text. She unlocked her phone and then peered back up at Tikki, unconsciously fumbling through the apps to open up the message. 

“Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen. The moment I try to say something about my feelings, I’ll be going _'bleh,_ _gbluf_ _,_ _buh_ _’_ and then I’ll be back to square o-” 

“Marinette?” 

Marinette looked pale as she looked over the message that Alya had sent her. Open on the screen was a simple text of **_Care to explain these?_ ** with a picture of Chat Noir wearing the crown of flowers on his head, his hand placed on her cheek. The look of complete adoration was on his face while both had a tinge on blush on their cheeks. Another picture with Marinette kissing his palm was sent in, then another of Chat kissing her cheek. 

Marinette looked in all directions and could not find her best friend anywhere. _Dang she has a good camera._

 **Marinette:** _We’re friends?_

She texted sheepishly knowing that excuse was not going to work. 

**Alya:** _Uh huh. Sure. Because friends kiss and look at each other like that. You’re lucky I couldn’t come by to say hello because I would have loved to ask you guys a ton of questions._

**Alya:** _And Nino witnessed it all with me too._

Marinette looked at the text and grumbled. 

“Great. Alya caught me with Chat.” She said to Tikki with some bitterness. “Way to ruin a good moment.” 

**Marinette:** _Can you please drop it? We’re French and we give cheek kisses. It’s nothing more than just friendship, okay?_

**Alya:** _Fine. Be that way. I’ll bug you about it another time._ 😉 

Looking back at the now saved photos of them, the beautiful flowers in his crown gave her an idea. Pulling out her sketchbook again, Marinette doodled a few of the flowers in the corner until she was lost in her creative ways. 

Inspiration abruptly struck as she started to draw out the intricate lines and soon three to four springtime dresses started to take shape on the page. Flowers in lace and embroidered twine started to decorate the design. Only when she realized that sun had shifted in the sky was when she noticed that a prominent shadow now stood beside her. 

“Nice of you to shadow in, Chat.” Marinette said without turning towards him. 

“Fancy to brighten your afternoon!” Chat quipped quickly. 

Marinette giggled and she finally turned around. “So, I had the most interesting text message today from the famous Ladyblogger.” Chat paled as she took out her phone. “Seems like we’ve been caught.” 

Chat looked at her then turned back to the phone. Slowly grasping it in his claws, he looked over the small messages and noticed her answer. The words tasted bitter in his mouth as he read and reread the words. _It’s nothing more than just friendship._ But the look on her face in the photos said so much more. Was he reading her wrong? 

Marinette watched Chat’s expression drift into one of confusion, anger, and then sadness. 

“Hey.” She said, grabbing onto his arm. “My friendship with you means the world to me. I don’t care what Alya has to say about it. I don’t regret us spending time together if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

“Yeah.” He said quietly, his heart cracking under the weight of those words. He plastered on his model smile and looked back at her. “Our friendship means the world to me too.” 

She flashed him a sincere smile. “Do you still want to hang out?” 

Trying to hold back the pain, he took in a quiet breath. “I’m ready when you are.” 


	16. Balcony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Chapter 16 is supposed to be _Do Not Disturb _, but... my story went in a different direction than I originally intended it to be and now I'm making this fic a little steamier later on (I will let you know what chapter). So, I’m moving the original chapter to another day and I'm shifting a few of the prompts up.__

Chat Noir, being the gentleman that he was, waited until Marinette gathered her things before reaching out his hand to take her bag for her. She pursed her lips and tried to assure him she was fine, but he pressed her until she gave in. 

Friendship be damned, he was still going to treat her like the princess she is no matter how much it hurt him. 

Once her bag was securely on his shoulder, he grabbed onto her hand and placed it in the crook of his elbow. When she didn’t pull away, he called it as a win and then started walking towards the entrance of the park. 

“So princess,” he said as he tapped her hand with his hand, “what would you like to do today?” 

“Hmm.” She hummed, tapping the fingers of her free hand to her chin as she thought. “You always ask me what I want to do. What do you want to do?” 

Chat looked at her slightly stunned. The idea of getting to choose an activity was still something he was getting used to. Marinette always asked Adrien what he would like to do due to his lack of thrilling life and the ever lack of time to hang out with his friends. But Adrien always redirected them to whatever they wanted to do. He never wanted to inconvenience them of doing something so menial just because he never got a chance to experience it. 

He tried to never feel ashamed of his sheltered life, but thinking of it like this? It made him sad. 

Marinette saw his shift in demeanor and quickly stopped him in his tracks. 

“Chat? What’s wrong.” 

Chat’s lip quivered. “Can I tell you a secret?” 

Marinette looked around to see if there was anyone that could eavesdrop into their private conversation. When she felt like it was okay, she nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want to take this to my balcony?” 

“No. It’s okay.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “You know my life isn’t great. You’ve known it for a while and it only made it so much clearer that it really wasn’t when your name showed up on my name tag.” 

Marinette searched his eyes to see where he was going with the conversation. The hurt that he was feeling radiated off his body and all she wanted to do was wrap him in a warm hug. But she would wait until he said his part or else he would just shut down and stay mum. So instead, she just nodded and waited until he felt okay enough to continue. 

“I’ve been so sheltered all my life that I never got to experience things like normal kids do. I never got to watch a futbol game live in person. I was never able to just go out and watch a movie outside my house besides the one time with my best friend and that one time with you. I barely go out and get ice cream on my own. I’m 17 and my parents still keep me sheltered from the world. 

“I love going out and doing things with my friends whenever I can, but I always feel like me asking to do something I never got to experience would only make them pity me. There are times I feel like an inconvenience. I know they would never say that to me or make me feel less of what I feel some days, but the thought of me just telling them that I want to go to a bookstore and just read manga off the bookshelf and just relax a bit or go to a water park or even to the aquarium...” he took a moment and sighed sadly, “when it’s probably just something they get to do on a regular basis or without thought. Well, I always just feel like a fool.” 

Marinette could feel the tears ready to fall from her eyes. She watched him carefully and waited a moment. Removing her hand from his elbow, Marinette reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing his tall form down a bit for her comfort. 

“You will never be an inconvenience to me, Chat. Never in a million years. I will do whatever you want with you, anything at all. Just promise me you will tell me what you want to do and we’ll do it. No matter how simple it may be.” 

Chat shuffled his head until his eyes were buried into the crook of her neck and he let out a wet sigh. “Okay,” he mumbled. “I promise I’ll tell you, no matter how lame it might be.” 

“No, Chat. Nothing you want to do would be lame. I may not know your friends, but I would know for a fact that they would never pity you or think less of you just because you want to do something so simple. Have faith in them,” she pulled away from him and brought his face in between both her hands trying to show him how truthful she was being, “and if they do? Well, I guess I'll just have to kick their asses for you.” 

Chat chuckled and finally let out a small smile. “You would do that for me?” 

She nodded. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make you smile for me. Including picking a fight. Want to know why?” 

He looked into her blue eyes and could feel the sincerity in them. “Why?” 

“Because you’re worth doing everything with.” 


	17. Banana

_Because you’re worth doing everything with._ The words echoed in his head. Even if whatever they had together only resulted in friendship, he knew he could never let her go. He was lucky he got to experience her in both sides of the mask. 

His heart raced as he watched her scrunch up her nose with a playful smile, but the simple strokes of her thumbs along the fine line between his mask and his skin just oozed how much she cared for him. It took everything in him to not let out a purr from how pleasant it felt. 

Chat finally reached up and held onto her hands, placing a quick kiss to both her palms before releasing her hands from his cheeks. With one little squeeze to her hands, he let go of one and placed the other back to the crook of his elbow, right where it belonged. 

“What did I do to deserve a friend like you, Marinette?” 

She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder, slowly walking again towards the entrance. 

“Oh, you know... just casually helping me with Evillustrator and then making me feel loved that night when Glaciator came to attack. It was just by chance that our friendship only grew from there.” 

“You’re right.” He said with a genuine smile plastered on his face. “Those were some interesting nights.” 

She nodded. “So back to my original question before we decide to go down the wormhole of akumas. What would you like to do?” 

He pursed his lips as he thought. “Well, there is this café down the street that has delicious sandwiches. Are you hungry?” 

“Oh my gosh, yes. I’m starving!” 

“Well, as long as you don’t mind random photos being posted of us being seen together, would you like to accompany me for some lunch?” 

“The fact that I had to deal with Alya has already prepared me for this. Plus, my best friend Adrien? There have been times we’ve been in the paper together, so I’m used to it.” 

He nodded as he turned his lips into a small smirk. Marinette never talks about his civilian self to himself besides a few good things. So, he decided to be a little playful. 

“Oh really? Like what kind of times?” 

Marinette blushed. “Um. Well, there was this one day where we were photographed together in such ridiculous getups. That was such an embarrassing day for me.” 

Chat furrowed his brows. Now he was genuinely curious. She always seemed fine about that day, but the memory of it never really came up again. His need to understand what she meant by that only increased. If it was something that he could fix as Adrien he would do it the next time he could squeeze the topic into a conversation with her. 

“What do you mean embarrassing for you? Did he do something to make you feel embarrassed? Or being with him made you uncomfortable?” 

Marinette’s eyes widened. “Oh no! It was nothing like that at all! Let me explain the story. He was running from his fans because his fragrance ad just came out.” 

“You mean the whole,” Chat changed his voice and recited the ad in the most awful, dreamy mock voice ever, “‘ _Radiant, c_ _arefree, dreamy. Adrien, the fragrance.'_ that ad?” 

She laughed, “Oh my god. Yes! That’s the one! And don’t mock him. It’s not his fault that he had to jump on a cloud!” 

They both giggled together as they reached the café doors. 

“Well, I was running late meeting up with my friends at the pool. Dumb me decides that running out of my house in my pajamas was the best thing until I realized what I was wearing. So, when I ran back towards my house, we ended up colliding into each other. We spent most of the day together being swarmed by his fans. He ended up having to wear a motorcycle helmet and I ended up still wearing my pajamas, but with the addition of goggles _and_ a towel wrapped up on my head _at the movies!_ ” 

Chat opened the door to the café and walked her in. He let out a little chuckle before a few of his littlest fans ran up to him in excitement.

Marinette turned to him. “I’ll grab us a few things to eat while you chat with them. What do you want?”

“Anything is fine. Surprise me.” 

Marinette went to the register and placed their order while Chat signed a few autographs and took funny photos with a few of the children. 

She found a table and then watched him curiously, the swell of her heart growing as he hugged and bantered with them. _I_ _s this how life would be? Domestic life with this house cat being surrounded by blond haired, green eyed kids-_

_Wait, why was she thinking of them together like that?_ Marinette shook her head to clear the thoughts just as the waitress brought over their food of Croque Monsieurs with banana tartes tatin for dessert. Chat Noir looked up towards her and smiled, apologizing to the kids that it was time for him to end their game so he could eat before his meal got cold. 

Sitting back down, he tilted his head and watched the blush that was radiating off Marinette’s cheeks. 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” She fidgeted with her fork as she thought about what to say next. “I just enjoyed watching you with the kids, that’s all. Just reminds me how sweet you are under your puntastic armor.” 

It was Chat’s turn to blush. “I love kids. Being an only child is lonely and growing up alone was even lonelier. Honestly, I hope to have two or three kids when it is my time so they will always have a friend.” 

She placed her hand on his forearm and spoke to him with sweet sincerity that only melted him into a puddle. “You’ll make an amazing dad, Chat. I just know it.” 

Chat blushed a little more and then cleared his throat to get rid of the knot that had formed in the back of it. “You didn’t finish your story. You didn’t get to the part that was embarrassing for you.” 

“Oh. Um, well...” she looked down at her plate, confused at the abrupt change in topic, “besides the fact that I was running around in my pajamas, all his fans deemed me his girlfriend.” 

Now he was worried. He didn’t realize she was embarrassed over the little error in the media’s thoughts that day. “So that’s embarrassing? Why?” 

“I was mostly embarrassed for my outfit. But...” she bit her lip and Chat watched as she mentally fought with herself over the next thought. Instead she sighed. “Can I tell you a little secret?” 

“Of course. It will stay between us. Cat’s honor.” 

“Okay.” She took in a breath as she placed her hands on her lap. “The only reason why I was really embarrassed was because I was wearing that outfit... in front of _him_.” 

“Okay? I don’t follow.” 

“It was only embarrassing because I was in love with him.”


	18. Tuxedo Chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I made a slight error two chapters ago. Chat mentioned he was 19 years old. He’s not. He’s 17. Not much of a difference, but I was thinking of another story of mine where they were both 19 and inexperienced. So now, back to your regularly scheduled fanfiction. 

_It was only embarrassing because I was in love with him._

Chat sat there, his jaw slacked and eyes wide. He even dropped his fork at the revelation. It felt like the world’s largest bomb was just dropped on his head. 

Marinette was in love with him? Adrien-him? This sweet girl, who has been a constant in his life over the past four years and has treated him with the kind of friendship that he had only ever dreamed of, has loved his civilian self. The most daunting part? That she never said a word to him. 

He thought about those moments together, especially the first year he started school, where she babbled and stuttered whenever he was around her. He always wondered why he made her so uncomfortable, and he knew that he was the only one who made her act that way. So, had she loved him since the very beginning? That’s the reason why she had acted like that? 

Wait.... if Marinette is Ladybug - which was something he knew for certain now that Plagg couldn’t deny it any longer – than she couldn’t love him. Ladybug said there was this other boy and that’s why she couldn’t love him. But, was he- was he the other boy? It must be. If that is the case, that meant he was fighting himself for her affection this entire time. 

Then the realization of her words hit him harder with every additional thought. His mind halted when he repeated the words. 

Marinette said _was._ She _was_ in love with him. 

Was she not in love with him anymore? Did he lose his chance? How oblivious was he to not realize Marinette had loved him for years? How many years... 

Chat’s brain continued to raddle out thoughts as her words flooded his brain. Only the soft touch of her hand brought him back to the café. 

“Chat? Are you okay?” She said nervously; her voice tinged with confusion over his sudden shift in behavior. 

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry.” 

“Are you sure? I’ve been trying to get you to hear me for the last minute. Is something wrong?” She bit her lip at their conversation. “Oh. _Oh._ I should have never mentioned that secret. I’m sorry, Chat. Really I’m sorry-” 

“No” He managed to squeak out before she rambled her thoughts into oblivion. Chat then cleared his throat as he tried to formulate a response that wouldn’t give away his identity, at least not right now in this particular place. He’d rather tell her everything he knew in the privacy of her balcony. 

“Yeah-” his voice cracked and he tried to clear it again with no success. Marinette quickly grabbed his glass of water for him to drink from and he gladly took a sip to calm himself down. When his dry throat felt okay, he started again. “I’m just surprised. You’ve never mentioned him in any of our talks.” 

She shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t think it was appropriate.” 

Chat took another sip and then tried to pick at his food. “So, you said was? Are you not anymore?” He looked up in time to see her blush. 

“You sure you want me to keep talking about this?” She said, feeling defeated, but yet somewhat relieved. Like the weight of her secret was weighing her down and the thought of finally telling someone was a reassurance to her. 

“I’m sure, Marinette. It seems like you need to for yourself.” 

She sighed. “I guess maybe I do?” She placed her hand back in her lap and tugged on her napkin. “I’m still in love with him, but not in the way I was years ago.” His eyes furrowed. “You see, I was completely infatuated with him the moment I met him. Well, not that very moment since I accused him of being a bully... but that afternoon? Under the rain? He told me how this whole making friends thing was so new. And his laugh...” she huffed out a breathy laugh, “oh his laugh was so amazing. So carefree. I don’t hear it from him often enough and that kills me inside. 

“I was such an idiot the first year. Couldn’t form a coherent sentence around him unless I pushed all my feelings aside to help him. So, when I finally let him go so he could be with the love of his life? Well, I decided to work on my friendship with him instead.” 

“Our friendship changed for the better and it also grew stronger, yet my feelings for him followed the same path. But I didn’t have the heart to tell him. I love him too much to lose him as a friend. If that's all I am to him? Well then, I rather us remain in that way.” 

Chat started to tear up, but he hid the pain of hurting her behind his clenched fist. “So, you- you just let yourself be hurt in this way just to let him go? Why? Why would you do that to yourself?” 

“Because his happiness means more to me than anything else in this world.” 

Chat finally had the courage to look up at her and see her eyes glossy and wet. He could see that she wanted to cry, the tears were ready to shed, but she held them back with whatever strength she had left. 

But Chat’s heart leaped at her sight. And he knew. Chat knew the moment he gazed back into her sad smile that he was gone. The amount of affection he had for this girl filled him up completely and he couldn’t believe he didn’t see both sides of her since the beginning. 

Or maybe it was always there and he was too stupid to see. 

His infatuation with Ladybug sounds just like her infatuation to Adrien. Once they let go of that veil, the world finally became clearer and the friendship that they built only grew stronger. But seeing the other side of the mask without that infatuation? Well now he knew what he was feeling. 

He was totally and completely in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

But did she love him as Chat? That was all that was left to understand. Because if she did, he would tell her everything. But if not? Well, he didn’t want to think of that right now. 

Quietly rubbing the wetness from his mask, Chat grabbed onto her hand and squeezed it tightly, rubbing soothing circles across her knuckles with his thumb. 

With every ounce of love that could be directed in his voice, he responded to her with kind determination. “You, my dear Marinette, are the most selfless individual I have ever met. You should never put your happiness below others. You deserve so much more in this world than what you think you do.” 

With a wet smile and a stray tear falling down her cheek, she nodded meekly until her face fell to her lap and continued to smile without words. Chat cleaned the streak and then carefully placed his fist under her chin, lifting her gaze back up until she peered back into his eyes. 

“Please go out with me tonight.” 

Marinette’s face fell. It wasn’t shock or fear or anger, but it was one of pure wonder. 

“What?” 

“Please go out with me tonight. I want to show you how loved you should feel.” 

“Ch-Chat...” she stuttered. 

He pleaded, his voice low enough to only be heard between them. “Please?” 

Marinette wavered, afraid that his request was out of pity. But when she could see the sincerity of his request, she ultimately decided to accept. If this boy liked her enough to show how she should be loved, then maybe loving him wasn’t a hard decision to make. 

“Okay.” She smiled. “I’ll go out with you tonight.” 

* * *

Marinette waited on her rooftop as she stared up at the colorful sky. The red and orange streaks danced across the skies, intertwining with the midnight blue hues that only aided in calming down her fleeting heart. 

Chat’s only request? That she wore a gorgeous dress for a fun night out on the town. 

She decided to wear her hair down with loose curls, a lone white flower pinning a few tendrils away from her face. Simple makeup and black pumps complimented the outfit for the night. Her dress was a deep red A-line design that reached her knees with the top portion hugging her body nicely. The skirt flowed freely against the slight breeze that surpassed her. She smiled as she thought about the day and waited with bated breath for her prince charming to sweep her off her feet. 

Only a few moments later she was blessed with the sounds of metal clinks against the rooftop. When she turned to look at him, she beamed. Standing in front of her was a handsome cat wearing a fitted suit and hair slicked back showing off his human ears. 

But before she could say anything, Chat’s jaw dropped, uttering one simple word. “Woah.”


	19. Cat Got Your Tongue?

Marinette flushed red at his awestruck gaze. His eyes were wide with admiration and his lips were turned up with a bright smile. He had yet to say anything more than the one word. 

She pulled a stray hair behind her ear, but then smirked deviously. “What’s the matter, chaton? Cat got your tongue?” 

Chat Noir straightened himself up and pursed his lips into a tight smile. His eyes narrowed and decided to flirt back. “Actually, my dear princess, your beauty is so amazing that it knocked all the words out of me. In fact, _woah_ was the only thing to come out before I was knocked off my feet.” 

Marinette sauntered up to him slowly and then flicked his bell, the smirk still evident on her cheeks. In a low and sultry voice, she responded, “And here I thought my prince charming was supposed to sweep _me_ of my feet.” 

Chat’s jaw fell. “Well, uh, I... um, you see, I- _mmmmm_ _!_ ” He squeaked. 

Marinette grabbed onto one hand and placed her other hand on his shoulder. She rolled onto her toes to make herself taller and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek. The simple, but intimate gesture surprised him out of his babble, yet it was replaced with a blush that overtook his cheeks. 

Boy did Marinette love to fluster him today. Hopefully, she couldn’t hear the rampant thump of his heart against his rib cage. 

When Marinette came back down to her heels, she released her hold from him. Instead, he grabbed onto her hands and brought them both up to his lips, placing sweet and tender kisses across her knuckles. 

Now it was his turn to enjoy her tinged cheeks. 

“Now, princess. I’m glad you dressed up beautifully tonight. I have quite a few places in mind with an ending you’ll truly enjoy.” 

Her face warmed up. “Whe- where are we foing girst? I mean going first?” She stammered and let out an embarrassed groan. Now that Chat knew her stammering meant something more than just uncomfortableness, he was truly enjoying watching her fluster in front of him. 

He chuckled. “Now, now. I plan on taking you to a few places, but they are all for me to know and for you to find out. I told you. I want to show you how loved you should feel.” 

She looked back into his eyes and saw the amount of earnestness hiding in the peridot hues. “Then let’s go, my kitty.” 

* * *

Chat strutted down the street with Marinette on his arm. They were talking about things they wanted to see in their futures when they finally reached a lone alleyway. 

“Chat, I know you’re a cat, but I didn’t think you like to stray in the alley.” 

“Meowch.” He purred. “Here I am taking you somewhere where we won’t get photographed together and here you are calling me a stray.” 

“And here I thought that my name on your tag meant that you had a home now.” She purred back. 

Chat straightened up at her reaction, and the swell of his heart only increased. He cleared his throat before continuing. 

“Before I was rudely interrupted,” he winked, “I thought coming here would be perfect. I had already informed the owner that we would be here and that we needed some privacy. He happily obliged.” 

Marinette smiled. “You had thought of everything, didn’t you?” 

“Only the best for you.” 

The sincerity in his tone only made a shiver run down her spine. The thought of falling in love with him further than she already was, was daunting to say the least. But she was accepting it wholeheartedly. 

She flushed pink again, the darkness of the alley only muting the actual tone of her cheeks, but he smiled at her once more before opening the door and escorting her in. 

The restaurant was a cozy, little establishment that could be considered a hidden gem in the city. The few of the main walls were covered in a cream-colored stucco veneer while the largest wall was covered in a red brick. There were plenty of faux windows with a stain glass effect punched into the stucco walls and a few of them had pretty planters with ivy tendrils dripping down towards the tables that were nestled underneath them. The chandeliers were elegant and fit the cozy theme, having wrought iron arms and candle fabrications built within them. Along the brick wall were many shelves full of bottles of wine, each large bookcase separated by a wrought iron sconce with another faux candle to complete the look. Each table was simply decorated with a single thick candle to complete the ambiance, the wood grains of the table showing through the soft glow of candlelight. 

Marinette stopped to marvel at the atmosphere. “Chat...” her voice quivered with complete shock. She turned to him and he could see overwhelming feeling radiated from her eyes. “It’s absolutely beautiful here.” 

She turned back around look at the space again as Chat met with the hostess to inform her that they had arrived. Chat walked up behind her and placed his hands carefully on her hips before leaning down and whispering into her ear. “Like I said. Only the best for you.” 

The sudden change in tone did wonders to her excitement. Her eyes closed as she leaned her head back onto his shoulder and he automatically leaned in and kissed her temple as his hands moved up towards her shoulders. 

The feeling between them sparked and it was like their relationship had been formed centuries ago. 

The hostess quietly smiled and led them towards the back of the restaurant, away from prying eyes and unintentional media attention. When they arrived at their table, Chat slid out her chair and then took her hand, helping her into her seat. 

Again, Marinette marveled at what was in front of her, but this time she marveled at the handsome date in front of her. 

“Chat...” She said again, her eyes glistening with hope. “You didn’t have to do this.” 

He reached out to grab her hand. “I did. I wanted to. I’m just so happy that you accepted my invitation.” 

“How could I ever turn you down, kitty? I haven’t felt like this in a long time.” 

“Well, I’m glad to have made you feel this way, Marinette.” He said happily. “Let’s choose something delicious. And please, don’t worry about the prices. I promise you that I am able to take care of whatever your stomach desires.” 

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “Kitty...” she said with warning. “Please tell me you aren’t overdoing it tonight.” 

“I promise. The dinner is the most expensive part, if you want to call this expensive. The other items I have are pretty much free and things I know you would enjoy.” 

She eyes were full of mirth as they went back to look through their menus. The rest of the dinner went well with small laughter and delicious entrées being traded between the two. 

When they completed their meal and he paid their tab, Chat helped her out of her chair and escorted her out to their next event. 


	20. Fireworks

Chat Noir opened the door and held out his hand, guiding her out towards the alleyway and into the warmth that permeated the air. Even for being in the middle of October, the comfortably warm day continued into the evening, making the trek to his next surprise a pleasant one.

They were walking alongside each other quietly until they turned onto the street. The poetic steps she took could be seen in the corner of his eye, and his heartbeat raced as her sways took his breath away.

He finally looked back down to glance at Marinette and the smile that graced her face was breathtaking. The moonlight captured the ethereal glow of Marinette’s skin and it simply melted his heart. The smile on his face matched the love that continued to grow with every step they took today.

She would be the death of him. The fact that his heart no longer had to be split into two probably made things worse for  Plagg (considering Adrien’s constant pacing and pining while he was away from her for a few measly hours before their date only got the  kwami to groan out in  frustration ), but he wouldn’t dwell on that little aspect. 

Honestly, Adrien was just absolutely thrilled. He knew  Plagg was too considering the softness in his features. The chaotic god just wouldn’t outwardly admit it.

Looking down towards her open palm, a sense of nervousness filled his belly. Looking again towards the street to keep from tripping on his own tail, he decided to take a bold chance and lightly brushed his pinky against hers. 

He only hoped that she  wouldn't stray away from his eager touch. 

Without deterring her eyes, she brushed her pinky against his, hooking the appendages together until the rest of her fingers intertwined with his.

Chat’s breath hitched and when he looked back down, her glossy blue eyes were staring back at him, sending shivers down his spine.

_ Oh, how he wished he could take her here and kiss her senseless, her plump pink lips softly grazing his... _

He shook his head at the thought of kissing her. He wouldn’t want to do anything to make her uncomfortable. All of a sudden, he felt a comforting pressure on his bicep. He looked back down to see that Marinette leaned in to him, resting her head against him as she curled her free arm around his, their hands still  entwined together. He couldn’t help but give her hand a slight squeeze.

When Chat brought her to briskly walk along the Seine, Marinette looked around to get an idea of what their next adventure would be. She was a little surprised they were heading down Rue Saint-Jacques, that was until they reached a side street where a known jazz club called Le Caveau de la Huchette nestled hidden in between the buildings.

The bright lights and feel good music permeated the streets around them. There were patrons standing outside waiting to get into the club while many others decided to stand outside to enjoy the music that was playing from the live band. 

Marinette looked up with a happy gleam twinkling her eyes. “We’re going dancing?”

Chat brought her hand up to his lips and kissed them slowly, his eyes never wavering from hers. “Yes.” He placed another peck to her hand. She watched him curiously as he leaned down to whisper something in her ear, and a shiver ran down her spine as his breath tickled her ear with promises of more than just this moment.

“Care to dance, my dear?”

‘Ye- yes.”

Chat brought one of her hands up to his shoulder while the other nestled into his other hand. He placed a careful claw on her hip and brought her closer until their bodies were nearly touching. Marinette looked down at her feet as she bit her lip, and Chat noticed the uneasiness that now crossed her eyes.

He ducked his head to peer into her gaze, removing his hand from hers to bring it to her chin. 

“Hey.” He said quietly. “What’s wrong?”

“I, um.” She said nervously. “I can’t dance.”

Chat smiled sadly. The last time they had danced was at Chloe’s party and she danced beautifully. Didn’t even step on his toes. If only she knew he was Adrien.  _ Maybe... _

“I’ll lead. Just look at me and it will be okay. I won’t let you trip or fall.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

She continued to peer into his eyes as she took her place in his arms. When the next song began, they swayed against the music, a sweet smile dancing along their lips. After a few moments, she brought both her hands up to his neck and brought herself closer until their bodies were touching, and he followed her lead as he wrapped his arms protectively around her waist.

Time stood still for a moment as they met each other’s gazes, her fingers now playing with the little hairs that nestled on his neck. He leaned in to her ministrations and felt a purr start to rumble in his chest. They stopped swaying and just watched each other intently, the electricity that had been forming throughout the night, growing stronger with every heartbeat.

Chat licked his dry lips as he gazed down at hers and Marinette  audibly swallowed. 

Marinette’s eyes slowly closed as he leaned down to rub his nose against hers. She let out a little giggle and opened her eyes slightly, their faces so close that she could feel his breath against her lips.

The sounds of bombs startled them as they looked up to the sky. Fireworks exploded around them and they both laughed at the sight before looking back towards each other with happiness and finally leaning their foreheads together. The colorful lights continued on in the background, yet the atmosphere only increased the electrifying tension between them.

They gazed into each other’s eyes, Chat’s hand on her lower back holding her close as he leaned down; Marinette slowly bringing herself towards him and closing the gap.


	21. Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops.
> 
> _runs away from the potential rock throwing_

When Marinette woke up that morning, she never thought that she would wake up from a peaceful sleep to find a sweet note lying beside her after her leather-clad partner left her bedroom bound for home. 

She never thought that she would be minding her own business while sketching at the park when a curious kitty casually walked up to her and watch her make a flower crown and donned it on his head. 

She never would have believed in a million years that finally confessing one of the world’s largest secrets (to her at least) about being in love with Adrien Agreste to Chat Noir would result in him showing her how she should be loved by taking her out on the town. 

And she never thought that him asking her out on this amazing date would have her standing in front of him, the electricity flowing strongly between them as the romantic firework display colored the dark sky. 

But yet here she was, looking into his glossy green eyes, a sense of desire and unspoken promises communicating silently between them. 

The electric current was like a magnet bringing themselves closer to the brink. They inched closer and closer until the space between them practically vanished, their breaths intermingling as both their eyes fluttered closed. 

Their hearts were beating erratically and could be felt against their rib cages. Chat’s tail curled around Marinette’s waist to keep her close to him and the feeling of extra security made her feel protected and loved. Their grips tightened as the anticipation of a kiss was close to breaking them. 

That was until they heard the shrill cry of a woman who was being playfully chased by her date in the street that they realized how close they really were. Blush tinged their cheeks as the intimate moment was ambushed, bringing them right back to the present. But their awkwardness only increased when the sounds of cameras clicking near them caused them both to look up to the sound, Chat doing so a bit quicker than she ever could, burying Marinette’s head back towards his chest to keep her face hidden from their view. 

“Oh my god.” She muttered bashfully, placing both her hands against the side of her face to help further hide her identity. “Are they seriously-?”

“Yup.” He quickly stated and gave the small crowd an angry scowl. Some of the patrons looked away as they felt embarrassed for getting caught, while others took one last photo before walking away without another word. 

Chat looked around to see if he could make a quick getaway, anger still buried beneath his chest at the thought of how stupid he was for taking her out into the open. 

He paled as a sudden thought crossed his mind. If any of the photos actually showed Marinette’s face, Hawkmoth may use her or her family as a way to give up his Miraculous. He promised Ladybug that he would protect Marinette from this going too far. 

And he promised Marinette that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her. 

Yet here he was, unable to control the swell of his heart as the love for her grew to an exaggerated amount, almost kissing her out in the public where people could take pictures and post it all over the internet. 

He was a fool to think that he could have a relationship with her as his superhero self. He should have tried harder to pursue a relationship with Marinette as Adrien. And if he knew any better - since his stupid oblivious self obviously didn’t - he wouldn’t even have had to try hard enough for a romantic relationship to develop at all between the two. 

Marinette could feel Chat’s tightened embrace around her shoulders tense up further. He tried to peer up through splayed fingers to see what had happened and she noticed the stare that seemed to go on for miles. 

“Chat?” She said slowly, not wanting to scare him out of his thoughts. When he didn’t answer, she reached up to touch his cheek and called out to him once again. 

“Hey Chat? Are you okay?” 

Chat looked down with such sadness in his eyes. There were unshed tears that wanted to fall, but he brushed it away before Marinette could see. 

“Chat?” Marinette called out, alarmed. “Why are you crying?” 

_Or so he thought._

“I’m okay princess. Just trying to find a way out of here.” 

Marinette looked around through her fingers again and noticed that there was no one lingering after the initial photos were taken. 

She bit her lip. She knew he was hiding something. She knew that within his pretty, punny exterior hid a sad boy who was full of fears. She looked back up and rubbed her thumb against his cheek. 

“Hey,” she whispered sincerely coaxing him to look right back into her eyes. “Why don’t we go back to my balcony. I think a cup of hot cocoa and kitty scratches are in order.” 

Chat closed his eyes and nodded. 

* * *

Marinette handed Chat a cup of hot cocoa which he gratefully accepted with a lopsided smile. She placed her mug on the ground as she kneeled in front of him and reached out to hold onto his free hand and push as much warmth and love as she could from her touch. 

“Hey. I’m here if you want to talk. You know that, right?” He looked up to her sadly but then sighed and glanced back down to his cup. 

“It’s just me, Chat. We tell each other almost everything. I won’t judge or anything. I promise you. But... you were so happy tonight. What happened?” 

Chat let out another strangled sigh as he looked away from her. 

Marinette got up from her spot and sat beside him on the chaise, wrapping a tender arm around his shoulders while the other was brought up to pet his hair. He leaned into her touch, nuzzling into her neck as a purr started to form from the comforting contact. 

“I-” he started, his voice shaky with fear of losing their friendship. It was the last thing he wanted. 

“Shh.” She cooed, continuing her ministrations behind his ears. 

“I put you in danger.” He finally spoke out, wincing at his words. “I could have potentially put you in danger.” 

She stopped for a moment before continuing the scratches. “What do you mean?” 

“I brought you out in public to show you how you should be treated, but I didn’t-” he let out a weighted breath, “people took pictures of us! If they took photos of us dancing- of us almost....” he stopped, gathered himself and tried again, “Hawkmoth might come after you to get to me.” 

She stilled. He was right and she was foolish to get caught up in her emotions. 

“I promised Ladybug I would protect you.” The tears started running down his cheeks. “I promised you I would protect you. I failed you, Marinette. I’m sorry.” 

Marinette swallowed thickly. Her heart shattered into a million pieces as she saw the helplessness of her partner before her. 

Yet the love she had for him only continued to grow. 

Marinette pulled herself away from him and she could see that his eyes were tightly closed. Whether it was to stop the flow of tears or to avoid gazing into her eyes, she would never know. But she couldn’t allow her kitty to berate himself like that. 

“Kitty.” She said sternly. “Look at me. Now.” 

He finally opened his eyes and watched her carefully. 

“Stop beating yourself up. I told you I didn’t care about being seen with you like I did at the café. I didn’t care we went out to a nice restaurant with the potential of being seen or being photographed. I didn’t mind dancing with you. And I didn’t mind that I almost kissed you under the moonlight.” 

Chat laughed bitterly as he ran a claw through his hair and tried to look away but she grabbed him by his chin and lifted it back towards her. The abrupt roughness left a sour taste in his mouth. 

Before he could lash out at her, he got up and paced the room. 

“You don’t get it!” He said, pulling at his hair. “I almost endangered you. Doing this. Doing this,” he gestured between them, “whatever this is could get you hurt!” He looked down at the ground, his voice lowering with it. “I can’t- I can’t.” He whispered. “I can’t let anything bad happen to you.” 

Marinette walked up to him and carefully placed a hand on his bicep. “Chat. Look at me.” Chat peered back into her eyes. “Please don’t worry. Look. Did you hear my phone go off at any point since we left the club until now?” He shook his head. “Do you know what that actually means?” 

“N- no?” 

“That means nothing has been sent anywhere. Or at least nothing that would indicate it was me. Do you want to know how I know that?” 

He stared. 

“Because Alya - you know the crazy blogger who wouldn’t let go of a scoop even if it bit her in the hand...” 

“That’s not the phrase...” 

“And that’s not the point. The point is that she didn’t see a hashtag, a photo, or received an email showing that Chat Noir and a civilian were canoodling under the moonlight.” 

His eyes widened at her words. 

“That means I’m safe. That means it’s okay. That means you didn’t break your promise to me.” 

“But-” He tried to say. 

“No.” She said, a hardness in her tone. “Chat, tonight you showed me something that I haven’t felt in a long time. You gave me a happiness that I didn’t realize I was missing. You have no idea what tonight meant to me.” 

She looked at him, a fervent gaze that heated his core. “ _You have no idea how much you mean to me._ ” 

Chat’s jaw dropped as he peered into her eyes. A sudden rush of need filled his core and that bubbling, overpowering love that he had been feeling earlier burst through his heart and reached his mouth before he could even control his thoughts. 

“Marinette?” Chat muttered nervously. 

“Chaton?” She whispered so quietly that if it wasn’t for his heightened hearing, he was sure that he would have missed it. 

He looked back up at her and placed his hand on her cheek. 

“Can I-” he swallowed thickly, afraid of what her answer may be. 

She stepped closer; her blue eyes peering through her thick lashes shyly as she placed her hands on his chest. 

“Yes?” Her silent plea sounding like a prayer. 

He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and nuzzled his nose into her hair, taking in the scent of her shampoo. After a moment, he lifted her chin with his hand gazing right back into her gorgeous eyes. 

“Can I kiss you?” 

“Please.” 


	22. Blush

Marinette waited with bated breath as Chat stared into her eyes with such willed desire. He searched her eyes for any signs of discomfort, for any signs that she was being coerced into this moment. But as she searched his eyes, all she could see he was afraid. 

And he was. He was afraid that if he closed the gap and kissed her in the way she deserved to be kissed, that their friendship would change forever. 

He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to look at her as Adrien without the incessant need to scoop her up and push her against the lockers and kiss her senselessly, 

He was afraid to see her as Chat Noir, handshakes after a battle turn into grasping on to is, kissing her knuckles with love and a constant need to flirt with her, especially knowing that she knew of his love life without outright saying it because she couldn’t. 

Yet, here he was feeling like a fraud for lying to her about his double life when she accidentally gave him an indirect way of knowing her double life too. How unfair it was that he knew she loved him as Adrien and most likely in love with him as Chat without saying a word or confront her about it. It just wasn’t fair. Not to him, and most definitely not to her. 

But for tonight, even for just tonight, he wanted to be a little selfish. Selfish for finding the love of his life in two completely different ways while her double personas were so similar that they crossed over without the barrier of a miraculous getting in the way. He was just too dumb to acknowledge it. 

He decided to go for it, to go with what his heart was asking of him instead of what his brain was telling him of what was right. 

So, he leaned in, closer and closer until their breaths intermingled with each other, the ghosting feeling of their noses touching ever so slightly, and the feeling of the heat searing from parched lips. 

Chat finally cupped her jaw in both his hands and rubbed soothing circles alongside them, their eyes never wavering from each other as time continued to move slow. 

And finally, _finally_ , he leaned in and closed the gap and placed his soft lips on hers. 

At first, the kiss was slow and sweet and comfortable, but the moment Marinette brought her hands up to his neck, reaching to sink her fingers into his soft, golden locks, the kissing became fast, needy, and just so full of want. Her head tilted slightly to allow their lips to angle, the pressing need to move faster and deeper weighed heavily on their minds. 

Their lips moved quickly, sloppy kisses that started innocently and quickly moved to something salacious. Chat poked his tongue through his lips and ran it across the bottom of hers, eliciting a slight gasp from her lips. The cocky smile that tantalized his lips was met with vengeance when Marinette bit his bottom lip in retaliation, getting him to moan in her mouth in the process. 

His whimper only made her eager for more. 

They kissed fervently as if their life depended on it, the moans, and slight touches, and the little nibbles of flesh between lips. But soon the need for air to live was outweighing their need for lust. They ended the passion with little pecks, neither really wanting the moment to end. 

With one last peck, they both slowly pulled back, their eyes opening slightly as if they were committing the moment to memory, both eager and afraid to speak out first. 

“Woah.” Chat finally said after catching his breath. 

Marinette blushed, her now flushed skin glistening under the moonlight that peeked through her windows. 

“Mhm,” was all she could say. She bit her lip and looked down, peering up at him through her eyelashes as she shot him a coy smile. 

“You’re beautiful.” He said, sweetly. The blush only increased with every additional compliment. “Really, truly, remarkably so, but absolutely beautiful in so many more ways than one.” 

Her shyness took over and she pulled a loose lock behind her ear. Chat watched as she continued to nibble her kiss swollen lips, another wave of heat tempting him to kiss her again. 

And without missing a beat, she slowly grasped his hand and placed a chaste kiss to his wrist before she bashfully pulled him up to her loft bed. When he situated himself on the bed, she reached under her pillow, handing him a small gift wrapped in lime green tissue paper. 

He took the package from her, his heart now beating erratically in his chest, and carefully unwrapped it. He was shocked when he noticed the new mask and shirt hidden within the packaging. 

“Wh- what’s this?” Chat said, looking down at the new items. 

Marinette looked up at him and smiled sweetly. “I finally had a chance to make you a mask. I was... nervous about our date and decided to keep my fingers busy. While I like the flowers,” she said, her voice low and somewhat sultry, “I think black suits you better.” 

That was all it took. Chat dropped the gift and went back to kissing her until she could forget what time it was. He leaned her back until her shoulders touched the pillows and he wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her close. 

Their kisses became passionate again, their hands roaming over faces, necks, and arms. Whimpers and moans could be heard between them, but nothing they did was more than what could be deemed uncomfortable for either of them. 

That was until he uttered the words in between bites and kisses. 

Words that caused her to tense up slightly. 

The words she feared would get out one day. 

The words that only her kitty would know. 

_My lady._


	23. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay! I’m writing this story day by day when inspiration hits. The last few days, though, have been hit with amazing weather so I’ve been outside working in our yard and have been too exhausted to write. I’m hoping to catch up over the next two days. 

Marinette’s heart hammered in her chest. Did she really just hear the words _My Lady?_ Was her hearing playing tricks on her since her brain had been too preoccupied with tasting and feeling and touching to notice? But was her heart actually hoping that those words were truly whispered to her? 

That thought alone scared her. 

She started to internally panic, the feeling of dread washing over her waves hitting the rocky cliffs at the beach. She was trying to find a way to claw out of it, but the darkness of her fears was drowning her, and it was doing so relatively quickly. 

But then it hit her: Was he truly accepting her as both Marinette and Ladybug? 

Chat noticed the sudden pause in her movements when his lips continued to move but her touch remained at his shoulders and refused to follow the path they had been following. When Chat opened his eyes to see a stone-faced Marinette gazing back at him, he paused and slowly pulled himself away wary of what was to come. 

“Marinette?” He said, carefully. He placed his hand onto her cheek and gazed into her eyes hoping they would spill the secrets of the world back to him. Was he doing too much too fast? Was this not what she wanted? Did he say something in between breaths that rubbed her wrong? 

Fear started to fill his heart that everything he thought he knew was coming true. That the thought of Ladybug not loving him back as she had always said was now blaring in his face. Because he loved this girl with his entire being and if she couldn’t love him back as Chat, well, it would only kill him further than he ever thought it could. 

“Marinette?” He tried one more time, his voice now quivering from the result of placing her into a spiral. Because knowing Marinette, he knew that she was spiraling into the abyss. 

She finally stirred, her eyes blinking away the wetness that threatened to fall from the corners of her eyes. 

“What- what did you say?” She whispered, afraid that if her voice was louder, it would shatter the moment from their hands. 

It was Chat’s turn for his heart to beat erratically. What _had_ he said for her to respond like this? He searched her eyes as his brain tried to remember the words he muttered in between kisses. But when the thoughts of his knowledge along with the fear in her eyes collided together into a plausible conclusion, he knew what he had done. 

He muttered out her nickname. 

“Marinette?” He grabbed onto her hands, squeezing them tight until she looked right into his eyes to explain. 

“You-” she started, her voice shaking. “How?” 

He waited a moment to see if she truly wanted to know. When her gaze never faltered, he took a breath and muttered, “Chat Blanc.” He watched as her eyes now shed the buildup of tears. “I saw him while you were transformed. I didn’t want to scare you when I saw him.” 

“When? When were you going to tell me?” 

“Tonight. I was going to tell you tonight when the moment felt okay.” He looked down and rubbed soothing circles on her thumbs. “I didn’t want to keep this knowledge a secret for too long.” 

Marinette started to cry as the world around them started to crash and burn. She had been careless, too careless, and now her partner knew her identity. 

“Marinette. Hey.” He said lifting her head up and then cleaning the tears from her eyes. “Hey.” Marinette finally gave in and looked up to him. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to find out. I promise you. I respected your rule and only wanted to find out when you were ready to tell me. I only looked in the direction you looked in case it was something I needed to jump in and protect you. But when I did and saw him coming closer to you, that’s when I realized that he was the same figure from your room.” 

She scrunched up her nose and started to sob, but instead of coiling into herself and hating him in the process, she lunged out to him to wrap her arms around his neck, engulfing him in a tight embrace. 

The tenseness in his shoulders did not go unnoticed. 

“You silly cat.” She said, half scolding him, half crying. “Please don’t ever be sorry. I know you would have never found out unless it was an accident. I trust you so much.” 

Chat was unsure of what exactly was going on. He could have sworn that she would have yelled at him, made him transform in front of her, and then take away his miraculous. The sheer fact that she was hugging him closely to her and accepting his apology only made his heart feel relieved. 

“I don’t understand. You’re not mad?” 

She pulled back and a lopsided smile, almost like she wanted to giggle at his confusion. “Not at all. I’m upset that we couldn’t defeat the akuma in time so you didn’t see, but I’m glad that it was you and not anyone else.” 

He let out a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad.” He wrapped her back into a hug and squeezed her tightly. “I don’t know what my heart would have done if you didn’t accept my apology.” 

She pulled back again, but this time she placed her hands around his cheeks, holding them tenderly within her fingertips. She caressed them, rubbing her thumbs where the mask met skin and watched him as his orbs were wet with unshed tears. “How could I not, Chat? You’re my best friend. I care about you a lot. A lot more than I ever thought.” 

Chat looking into her gaze with so much affection. “Well, then.” He started with a shaky breath as he leaned his forehead against hers. “I have one more confession that I want to share with you.” 

Marinette bit her lip and pulled herself closer to his mouth until their breaths were ghosting their lips. 

“And what’s that, Chaton?” She hushed. 

“That I am so utterly and completely in love with you, Marinette.” 

She bit her lip. “I guess I have a confession of my own to tell you.” She leaned in placing a chaste peck to his lips. 

“And what’s that?” 

“That I am so in love with you.” 


	24. Do Not Disturb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter becomes a little more towards the mature side. If you want to read the Explicit version, click this [link](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24415018). You do not have to read the Teen version if you have read the Explicit version as they are the exact same chapter but with the added smut. Not reading either version does not change the story in any possible way. I purromise! 😉

The moment the words left her lips, Chat placed his hands to the back of her neck, pulling her close to his lips and kissing her fervently. She responded in kind, grabbing onto his hair to keep him close to her in fear that he would let go. 

Their lips moved in tandem as little mewls and whispered praises left in between kisses; the room heating up faster than a kitchen busy working on orders during rush hour. 

“Chat.” She finally spoke, her chest rising and falling with every breath. 

“Marinette?” He whispered before lunging in for another kiss. 

Parting for a moment, she was able to utter out, “can you detransform?” before he lunged back into one more kiss. He realized what she had said and stopped to look into her eyes, waiting to see exactly what she meant with those words. “All I ask is that you put on the mask.” She added, feeling a bit foolish over her request. 

Chat frowned. “You don’t want to know who I am?” The sadness in his voice did not go unnoticed. 

“I do. I truly do.” She smiled, placing another kiss to his lips. “But there were so many confessions tonight. I just need one day. One day to wrap my head around everything.” She leaned in to give him a longer kiss, oozing the amount of want and need to know who he is through it. “Chat, I want to know who you are. I promise you. I do. Trust me, please?” 

Chat placed a peck on her lips and wrapped her up tightly within his arms. “I trust you with my whole heart, my lady. I’ll follow your lead. And when you do, you won’t know what to do with this knowledge.” He said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. 

“Am I going to regret this?” Marinette added with a cute little pout. Chat lightly nibbled at her bottom lips before placing a longer kiss against her lips. 

“Never.” 

It was Marinette’s turn to lunge at his lips, biting and kissing it with intense passion. Their eyes were closed as he blindly searched for his new mask. Once he found it, he peeked quickly to see if her eyes were truly shut, then called off his transformation. 

Plagg went in search of Tikki, but not after groaning in disgust at their intimate nature. Marinette sat there and giggled blindly. She let out a heavy breath and waited until Chat placed his lips on hers. “You can look now,” he said, his voice silky and sensual. 

Marinette opened her eyes and peered back at his green hues and blonde hair. Knowing that by tomorrow, she would know who this boy was made her heart flutter even more. She tilted her head and gave him a tender smile, fluffing at his blond locks until it spiked outwards. 

He leaned in with a teasing glint in his eyes before kissing her again, placing lingering kisses from her mouth and down her jawline, until it reached the hollow of her neck. She gasped at the contact and tilted her head further back, giving him access to her pulse points. 

“Mari,” he pulled back enough to ask her one final question. “Are you sure?” 

“Yes.” She answered comfortably, “I’m sure.” 

* * *

“My parents aren’t home tonight. Actually, they won’t be back until late tomorrow morning. Do you want to stay tonight?” 

“I would love to.” Chat smirked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her back down to the bed, kissing her on the neck as they got themselves comfortable under the blankets. 

Marinette reached up to grab her phone to check on the time, but soon realized that her phone happened to be on do not disturb. 

“Huh.” Marinette said, pondering at the phone. 

“What’s wrong?” Chat answered back, a little worried that something was wrong. 

“Oh, nothing, I guess. I just don’t remember placing my phone on do not disturb.” She looked around the room to find her kwami. “Tikki? Did you mess with my phone?” 

The little sprite flew up and started to giggle. “I didn’t think you needed a reason to stop mid confession, Marinette.” 

“Tikki!” She scolded. “What if my parents tried to call! That would have been really bad!” 

“Don’t worry, Marinette. I was keeping an eye on it.” Tikki brought her paws up to her cheeks and squished them. 

Marinette screwed her lips tightly but then eased up and rubbed the kwami’s head with her finger. “Thanks, TIkki. You’re the best.” 

“I think you two should both go to sleep. It’s late! Plagg is already out on my scrap pile holding onto a slice of cheese. I’m going to try and snuggle up to him. Good night you two.” 

“Good night,” the two said in tandem, smiling back to each other as they embraced together tightly. 

Chat placed one last peck on her cheek before wrapping his arms around her again, bringing her close to his chest. 

“Good night, Marinette.” 

“Good night, Chat.” 


	25. Blep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompts are now back on its previously scheduled programming. Thank you for your patience in the changes of his fic! 

Marinette stirred as the sunlight seeped through the skylight. There was a heavy weight against her side and she smiled when she realized that her kitty was still sleeping peacefully beside her. Her arms were wrapped around his middle and her head had used his shoulder and chest as a pillow. Her hair was disheveled mess while the sheets laid peacefully on top of them. She took in the dissipating musky scent of cologne with a hint of Camembert that was on the brisk of leaving his body, and she snuggled into his side just watching the slow rise and fall of his chest as she listened to him breathe. 

It was pleasant and calming and she didn’t want the moment to end. But she knew it would have to soon. 

Normally, Chat would be awake by now, leaving her to sleep alone without the comfort of his presence. An alarm would have been set so he would get home in time before anyone thought he was missing, so she was confused as to why he was still around. 

Not that she minded it, at all. 

When she finally had to urge to look up, she smiled a little further when she noticed his mouth was slightly open and soft snores were coming from it. She eyed his peach lips, the softness ready to be kissed once more. His skin was smooth and relatively blemish free and his hair was a disheveled mess of bed head. She never had a moment to really look at him, their moments together were always quick or their distance was slightly apart. But seeing him sleeping peacefully beside her? She absolutely took the opportunity to take in his features and memorize this little part of him even if it was to be ingrained in her memories forever. 

She must have stared for a long time, because she was jostled awake when he stirred and shifted his weight. Doing so caused him to close his mouth for a second when he pursed his lips, but then his mouth reopened enough for his tongue to barely slip out. He looked like an actual cat going blep and all she could do was agree that it was adorably cute. 

Marinette reached out to touch his tongue with her finger, giggling when it slipped back in. His face furrowed and he groaned, slapping his hand in her direction. She snorted deeply and laughed loudly in response, finally waking him up fully from his deep sleep. 

He yawned. “Marinette?” He rubbed his eyes, moving the mask in the process to place it above his forehead, not thinking for a second that she didn’t know who he was yet. 

She let out a squeak before dropping her gaze, burying her face into his bare chest. 

When Adrien looked down at Marinette, he smiled and tried to bring her chin up to meet his gaze and kiss her lips, but she wouldn’t budge. 

“Marinette?” He looked at her concerned. “Why won’t you look at me?” 

“You’re mask.” She blindly pointed towards his face. “I don’t know who you are yet, remember?” 

At first, Adrien blanched, but then a smirk crossed his expression. “But you said tomorrow you wanted to know who I am. Well, it’s tomorrow!” 

“I haven’t even had a proper freak out yet! Let me freak out first. The last thing I want to do is freak out in front of you!” 

Adrien let out a chuckle. “Well, keep your eyes closed for a second.” She did and he brought her face up by her chin. Bringing is face down to hers, he planted a sweet, but slow kiss onto her lips, soaking in the little moment of face to face without the barrier of the mask taking the moment away. 

When he pulled away, Marinette let out a delighted sigh. “Wow.” She said as a blush appeared on her cheeks. “I love you.” 

“I love you too, princess.” He slid the mask back down over his eyes and he rubbed his nose against hers. “You can look now. My mask is back on my face.” 

She looked up at him and gave him one more kiss before settling back down to his side. “I’m surprised you haven’t left yet. What did I do to deserve such a welcoming surprise?” 

He chuckled. “I set my alarm. I think you,” he bopped her on the nose, “are actually up early for once.” He checked the time. “Exactly what I thought. It’s only 6H.” 

Marinette groaned and closed her eyes. “Gross. Why am I up? It’s too early!” 

“I think it’s because you were excited to see me.” He wiggled his brows. 

Marinette pouted. “How much longer until you have to leave?” 

“A few more minutes.” He looked at her with a sweet expression before a devious one split his features. He leaned down and kissed her lips before kissing her jaw and her neck. “How about another round? What do you say?” 

She giggled when his breath ticked a spot on her neck. “I say we have to hurry up then.” She said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his lips slowly. 


	26. Toe Beans

A glimmer of green light flashed throughout the room and Marinette enveloped herself in her blanket now that she was about to lose her warm companion. 

She looked over at Chat and grasped onto his hand, a slight pain in her heart knowing that he had to leave her for the day. 

“Do you have to go?” Marinette whined softly. There was a glimmer of sadness in her eyes that pained Chat’s heart. 

Chat leaned over the bed and slowly kissed her on the lips, caressing her cheek in the process. “You know I must go, my lady. But I promise you that I will be back tonight.” 

A smile crept upon her lips. “Do you have something planned for your portion of the reveal?” 

Chat Noir twisted his lips as he placed a clawed finger to his chin. He pondered over the thought for a bit before turning back to her and smiling deviously. 

“I don’t know. I’ve always planned this big reveal that we would have this big fancy dinner on the Eiffel Tower, then we would jump around rooftop to rooftop chasing each other like a cat and mouse, then when we were ready, we would find a secluded spot on the rooftop of the Notre-Dame where we could transform as we hold hands under the moonlight.” 

Marinette watched him with enamored eyes, the blue orbs shiny with wonder and love. 

“That sounds absolutely lovely.” She finally said. “But why Notre-Dame?” 

He smirked as he shimmied on the bed, leaning his back against the wall. “Well, I thought a cathedral would be the perfect place to propose to you once the reveal happened.” He added a sultry wink then watched with amusement as Marinette stared at him with her mouth slightly ajar. 

“Propose?” She enunciated the word slowly, sounding slightly skeptical. 

“I told you, my lady, we were meant for each other! We were destined soulmates born together by the stars in the night.” 

Marinette scoffed before looking at his feet. 

“Oh my god!” Marinette squealed happily. Chat jumped at her sudden reaction. 

“Marinette? What’s wrong?” 

She pointed at his feet. “How have I never noticed it before! You have toe beans on the bottom of your boots!” 

Chat just gave her a deadpanned look. “That’s what you were squealing about? I thought you would be excited about that proposal.” 

“Chat, we’re... what. Seventeen? We can’t get married yet.” 

“Love does not stop our hearts from beating together and our hearts have been beating together since the beginning of time.” Chat added, his hand clenched against his heart. 

Marinette leaned towards him and pushed against his shoulder. “You’re such a dork. A romantic dork, but a dork nonetheless.” 

“I’m glad that you think of me as a dork. Just remember that when I reveal myself to you tonight.” 

“Which goes back to my original question. Now that our reveal was somewhat ruined, do you have a different idea in mind?” 

Chat watched her for a moment before thinking of something. “Actually. Just being here with you where I can show myself to you in private, but also spending some one-on-one time together, actually sounds so much better than I ever thought possible.” 

Marinette smiled. “Then meet me here tonight - when you’re ready - and I’ll have something ready for you.” 

Chat leaned over and gave her one small peck to her lips. “I have to go. But I will come by tonight, a little after 10 to be safe. Okay?” 

“Okay. I’ll be waiting here for you.” 

“Goodbye, my love.” 

“Goodbye, mon chaton.” 


	27. Kitten Noir

Adrien paced his room, trying to focus on how he was going to reveal himself tonight. Plagg watched him with some distant curiosity, mostly laying around watching his chosen going crazy while he sat in the comfort of a Camembert tin. 

“You’re going to put a hole into the floor if you keep walking like that.” Plagg added as he licked his paws. 

“I’m so nervous, Plagg.” Adrien disclosed. He stopped pacing long enough just to fall face first onto the bed. 

“I don’t understand why. Pigtails already admitted that she’s in love with you, both sides of you if I remember correctly. Once she sees you as Adrien, then everything will all make sense and she’s going to go bananas! Maybe even do another one of your disgusting human rituals.” He smiled deviously, letting Adrien catch a glimpse of his fangs. “But be careful, you might get your very own kitten noir out of it.” 

“Plagg!” Adrien scolded. “We’re careful, you crazy kwami. I’m not ready to be a dad. At least not right now.” 

“And I’m just saying, Tikki is the kwami of creation. Kind of her thing, you know.” 

Adrien turned crimson and could feel the heat radiating off his body. Plagg cackled in the background helping bring Adrien out of his stupor. 

“Alright, alright. I’m done.” The god wiped away the stray tear and flew over to Adrien, plopping on the pillow beside him. “So, what’s the big problem.” 

“I don’t know Plagg. You’re right. She said she loves me. Loves both sides of me without realizing it. I’m just afraid that when I reveal myself to her, she’s going to freak out and take everything back.” 

“Doubt it.” Adrien scowled at him. “What? Your catastrophizing. There’s no reason to freak out when things have been going so well. The only thing you’re missing is asking her out.” 

“Oh, my kwami!” Adrien yelled as he gripped his hair. “I forgot to ask her out! And we did- we did.... and yet I didn’t even take her out on a proper date!” 

Plagg just stared. “You took her out on a dinner date complete with dancing and fireworks. How is that not a proper date?” 

Adrien groaned. “I’m screwing this up already, aren’t I?” 

“I highly doubt that kid, but you can think whatever you want. Reveal yourself, make those kissy faces, then ask her out. See? Simple.” 

Adrien mulled it over in his head. “Actually? That... doesn’t sound bad at all.” He narrowed his eyes at the god. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” 

“Because it’s more fun to watch you act like an idiot in love, even if I hate all the mushy stuff that comes with it.” 

“Plagg!” 

“Fine. Because you need to figure things out on your own. I only help when your brain is about to catch fire.” 

“Not helping!” 

“I’m helping plenty. Now. Are you going to stay in your underwear or are you going to put on actual clothes before leaving?” 

Adrien looked down to see his almost bare body and blushed. “Ugh. I... better go and change. Yeah...” 

* * *

“So...” Marinette started the moment Chat dropped into her room. He looked at her curiously, wondering what the problem could be. 

He watched her shift from foot to foot, idly playing with her fingertips in the process. 

“Marinette?” He walked up to her cautiously, concerned with her obvious nervousness. “Why are you fidgeting?” 

“I’m just a little nervous, that’s all.” 

He placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to ease the tension out of them. “Hey.” He said quietly, waiting until she looked into his eyes before speaking again. “I don’t have to show myself to you if you don’t want me to, bug. I want us both to be comfortable when I reveal myself to you.” 

A mischievous glint crossed her eyes. “I think you’ve shown plenty enough, chaton.” She said, eyeing him up and down. He blushed at her words. “But honestly, I’m just excited-nervous. Not nervous-nervous.” 

He smiled and grabbed onto her hands, kissing her knuckles gently. 

“Then let’s get this reveal going the right way.” 

“What do you have in mind?” 

Chat leaned down and kissed her lips slowly. “Well, I was thinking of having a late dinner here, then maybe watch a movie first to get us relaxed enough? Then when the moment seems right, then I can reveal myself. Or, we can grab food, I can reveal myself, and then watch a movie in our pajamas until it’s time for bed.” 

Marinette continued to hold his hands and sway shyly towards him. “I can go with either plan. But if I have a say in anything-” 

“Which you do.” He interrupted. 

“-then I choose the second option.” 

“The second option it is.” He placed another kiss on her lips. “Would my lady like anything in particular?” 

“Surprise me, kitty. It’s your night after all.” 

“I think pizza and a movie sound perfect. You choose the movie and setup a pillow pile while I grab the pizza.” 

“I like that plan. I’ll see you soon.” 

With one last kiss, Chat Noir left her room leaving an excited Marinette behind. 

“Tikki? Let’s build a fort!” 


	28. Lights Out

“Princess! I’m back!” Chat Noir called out to Marinette. He slowly leaped down to her loft from the balcony, carefully balancing the box of pizza in his hands. 

“Chat!” She called out, climbing up the ladder to grab the box, eyeing the surprise that was waiting for her to see. A beautiful bouquet of red roses sat on the box, their petals fully opened and the sweet fragrance permeated the air around them. 

“Oh, Chat.” Marinette said quietly, her eyes a little wet from the shock of the surprise. “These are absolutely beautiful.” 

“Take them, my love. They’re for you.” 

“You didn’t have to do that, you silly cat.” 

“I didn’t, but I wanted to. I want to spoil you. Let me spoil you. You deserve it.” 

“O-okay.” She whispered, pulling her loose hair behind her ear. 

Marinette looked at him one more time before she turned and climbed down the ladder to find an empty vase to place them in. She smelled the flowers with a long whiff before placing them on the table to unwrap them from the cellophane wrapping. 

Chat watched with wonderment as she held the arrangement in her hands, shifting some of the stems ever so slightly as she cut them at an angle and placing them in the vase. 

The careful detail she puts into things she loves could be seen just by her movements alone. And Chat couldn’t deny that it filled his heart with so much warmth just to watch her doing these simple tasks. 

In truth? He absolutely loved it. 

When Marinette was finished, she turned to Chat and fixed the cuffs of her sweatshirt back down to her wrists. “Are you going to sit on my bed the whole time, kitty? If you are, then I guess I’ll be sitting in this blanket fort all by myself.” She added with a pout. 

Chat bit his lip to hold in his laughter. “Well then. I guess I cannot keep the princess waiting too long. Can’t have her going cold without her knight in shining armor.” 

She giggled as she grabbed the remote from the table. She moved to the fort and sat down on the blanket where a stack of pillows sat behind her and patted the space beside her for him to join. 

Chat placed the pizza in front of them and grasped onto her hand. 

“Do you want me to do it now?” 

She looked at him shyly. “Only if you want. I wouldn’t mind cuddling you without the suit.” She then looked away for a moment before turning back to him with a devious smile. “But I might miss the kitty ears when I’m scratching your scalp. You know how much I love it when you purr.” She finished with a wink. 

He perked up at a thought. “I have the perfect compromise then. How about we watch one movie while I’m transformed and we can eat pizza and cuddle so you can pet my ears and then I’ll detransform so I can reveal myself and then we can cuddle for another movie.” She smiled at his idea. “In reality, I don’t have to go home until early morning, so I could stay the night, if you want me to that is.” 

“I really like this idea, kitty. It’s perfect. No rush, no fuss, and we both get what we want. Even though I know you secretly like my scalp massages more than I do.” 

“Guilty!” Chat added, lifting up his hands in surrender. “But if we please, princess, let’s get this fun night started. 

“Do you mind having the lights out for right now? We can turn them back on later when you do your reveal.” 

“I don’t mind at all.” Chat walked over to the light switch and turned it off then walked back to the fort and sat down beside Marinette. 

He leaned back against the pile of pillows and then grabbed her by the middle to pull her to sit between his legs. 

“I thought you wanted me to pet your ears?” 

“I do. But this kitty is hungry.” He leaned forward and grabbed the box of pizza, sliding it beside them in the fort. “What movie did you put on?” 

“I thought a Disney movie would be great. Is _Big Hero 6_ okay with you?” 

“More than okay. That’s a superhero movie with a mix of science thrown in. Just my cup of tea if you ask me.” 

“Then I’m glad I chose it.” 

Chat opened the box and handed Marinette a slice before grabbing himself one. Every once in a while, Chat leaned down and kissed her temple, rubbed soothing circles up and down her arm, and squeezed her middle with hugs. 

When the pizza was nearly finished, Chat removed himself from her hold and laid his head down in her lap, silently begging for his scalp scratches. 

“You are one needy kitty.” Marinette added with a giggle. 

“What can I say? You give the best head scratches.” 

She leaned down and kissed him. 

“Hey Marinette?” 

“Yeah, Chat?” 

“Will you be my girlfriend?” 

Marinette smiled. “Yes, Chat. I would love to.” 


	29. Pajamas

Once the movie was over, Chat, who felt thoroughly relaxed thanks to Marinette’s scratches, got up and stretched with his hands over his head. Marinette watched him and did the same, getting any of the knotted kinks out of her back from sitting in an awkward position for a bit too long.

Once Chat finished his stretch, he looked over to Marinette to gauge an uncomfortableness that she may be feeling over the reveal. 

She smiled, a bit shyly, but none of the earlier nervousness could be seen. Having a movie and dinner before the reveal seemed like the best plan after all. 

“Are you ready for me to transform?” Chat inquired. It seemed like he stopped breathing, just waiting for her final answer. 

“Wait.” She said abruptly, yet there was no issue with the idea in her tone. “I have something for you.” 

Chat tilted his head and waited for her as she went to her trunk and pulled out a small package. 

“Here. For you.” She said with another smile. 

Chat looked down and carefully grabbed the package, looking back at her once more before opening it with his claw. In it was a pair of Chat Noir pajamas. The pants were made with soft black cotton and had paw prints down the side of one leg. The t-shirt was lime green with a small paw print and ladybug emblem over his heart with the words “kitty noir & his lady” in cursive right underneath it. Chat looked up with a wet smile and hugged her tightly. 

“I was thinking that we could wear pajamas for our next movie and cuddle. I made a set for myself too. Mine matches yours, but where you have green, I have black and your black is my red. My tag says ‘the lady and her kitty.’ Couldn’t have one set without the other, now couldn’t we?” 

“No. Not at all.” He finally let her go. “Marinette, these are absolutely amazing. I can’t wait to wear them! How did you even have time to make them?” 

“Well, these were items that I already had but never finished. I added the decorations and fixed the size of the shirt for your build. So, it didn’t take me too long. But I had a great reason to get them done today.” 

“Still. You are so amazing. I can’t believe that you’re my girlfriend and that you put so much love into these little things. I keep thinking this is a dream.” 

“No dream. I’m all yours, kitty.” Marinette giggled and then grabbed the pajamas out of his hand and placed them on the table beside them. She leaned in and took his hands, placing one last kiss on his lips before the reveal changed any part of their dynamic. 

She knew it wouldn’t, and yet hoped it didn’t, but she also knew that any reason for kissing is a good reason as ever. 

Chat took one last breath and they both closed their eyes. Chat silently counted down until he said the words. 

“Plagg, claws in.” 

A flash of green light filled the room and Marinette gasped at the familiarity of the tingling sensation she normally feels when she transforms. 

Adrien opened his eyes first, excited, yet still nervous over her reaction. He squeezed her hands to coax her to open her eyes, and once she did, she let go of his hands to place them over her mouth. 

Her eyes welled up with tears and Adrien could see it wasn’t out of anger or hatred. Her smile started to slowly appear from where her hands were slowly lowering. She then reached out to carefully touch his face. Her thumbs touched where the mask and skin usually meet before wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight squeeze. 

“Oh my god.” Marinette cried out quietly, never letting him go from her embrace. “It’s you. It’s always been you. My kitty. My love. _My Adrien_.” 

Marinette finally speaking out his name caused shivers to run down his spine and any lingering nervousness he held in his veins left his body as he hugged her back tightly. 

“I never thought I could love two people so much at the same time in my life.” She added, tears now streaming down her face. “I was so torn for so long. Never wanting to love Chat because I loved Adrien, but I couldn’t hold back from loving either one of you. I’m so happy that I can love all of you without hating myself in the process.” 

Adrien chuckled and pulled himself back, looking at her with his own tears in his eyes. “Marinette. I know exactly how you feel. I’ve already told you. I loved you as Ladybug first, but loving you as Marinette was so easy to do. My heart hurt so much trying to figure out how I could love and choose between two amazing women in my life and when the moment I found out I was in love with the same girl? Oh my god. It’s like the biggest burden of my life was lifted off my shoulders and I could just love you freely.” 

She nodded and grabbed a hold of him, kissing him with vigor as if this moment would slip from her fingers. There she was with Chat Noir being Adrien, the two most important men in her life being one in the same, and she couldn’t contain her excitement. The kissing became more passionate as their hands moved across their bodies until they pulled apart to gather some air. 

“I love you, Adrien.” Marinette finally admitted as she leaned her forehead towards him, holding him close as she held onto his biceps. 

“I love you so much, Marinette.” Adrien replied, leaning his forehead down to hers as he pulled her close by the waist. 

They stood there for a moment, relishing the contact and finally being together in this way until Plagg interrupted their moment. 

“What’s a god got to do to get some cheese around here?” 

“Plagg!” Tikki scolded and Adrien groaned. Marinette couldn’t help but giggle over the god’s ill-timed interruption. At least they weren’t doing anything more intimate. 

“Over there, Plagg.” Marinette said as she pointed to the desk. Plagg zipped away as quickly as he showed up and Marinette looked up to Adrien with a smile. “Why don’t we change into our pajamas and cuddle for the next movie? Yeah?” 

Adrien looked at her with so much love and placed a quick kiss to her lips. “I like that plan.” 

Decked out in matching pajamas, Adrien leaned back onto the pillows in the fort and held out his arms for Marinette to cuddle against his chest. The movie started and they got comfortable, enjoying the feeling of finally being free of the many secrets that they have held for the last four years. 

And if the future would feel anything like what they were feeling right now, well they would be the two happiest people in the universe. 


	30. Purrince

The movie played in the background, but the two newly dating teens spent most of their time cuddling, kissing, and caressing each other’s faces. They were content on just being there together as the evening went on, relishing in the bits and pieces of the last four years that resulted in the many, silly missed opportunities. 

“I can’t believe you used mirage to create an entire recovery scene from the devastation and created an illusion of yourself just to get your identity off my trail!” 

Marinette giggled. “I know how crazy that sounds, but I needed something just in case you figured it out.” She said pointedly, poking him in the chest in the process. “How close were you to figuring me out anyways?” 

“Actually, I thought it was you! Plagg convinced me to stop thinking about it, so I did.” 

Marinette just stared at him. “I didn’t even want to think about who was under the mask!” They both went into another round of giggles. “But... it seems like you had the same idea back during Gorizilla! How did you do that? It’s not like you had Trixx to help you.” 

“Don’t kill me, alright? Do you remember Wayhem? My biggest fan?” Marinette nodded with the silliest smile on her face, yet her eyes were narrowed over what he was about to say. “Well, I asked him to wear that helmet with the head of my cardboard cutout to confuse my bodyguard.” 

Marinette gave him a little slap to his arm. “You put a civilian in danger? I can’t believe you did that!” She shook her head as they both laughed at how far they were willing to go to keep their identities safe. 

“Hey. I had to do what I had to do. But he was fine! Nothing to worry about.” He said like it was the easiest decision in the world. “You needed my help and I had to get there somehow.” 

“Which reminds me. You never lost your ring during that battle with Style Queen? You were the akuma’s first victim. That’s why you never showed up!” 

“Yeah....” Adrien drawled out. “Luckily, Plagg wasn’t in my jacket at the time. I’m not sure where he was hiding, but where ever he was, he saw me get attacked and ran off.” 

“I ended up finding him at Master Fu’s. He was just sitting there just lazing around saying that you lost your miraculous! I had to believe him because Master was protecting you.” 

“Plagg told me. He spent the rest of the afternoon laughing at me because he got to spend time with you and got to destroy the Eiffel Tower in the process.” 

“Aww. He loved spending time with me?” Marinette said with a flutter of her eyelids. Plagg decided to zip out of his hiding spot just to tease Adrien. 

“Yup! And just so you know, I love spending time with pigtails. At least she would give me ear scratches and take care of me.” Plagg said with a sad sigh. 

“Why you little-” 

“Aww. I would give you as many head scratches as you want. You saved me that day and I’m forever thankful.” Marinette added with a small kiss and a head scratch on the god’s tiny head. 

Adrien looked at the two of them with wide eyes and a slack jaw. 

“Aww, is my kitty jealous?” 

Adrien corrected his face into pouted lips as he crossed his arms. “I deserve head scratches, too! I’m always there to help save the day with you.” 

“Listen, I will give you all the head scratches you want. You never have to beg for them.” 

“But I don’t think begging to a princess is a good thing.” 

“You’re just going to continue calling me princess, aren’t you?” Marinette added with a smirk. 

“Yup. And now that you’re officially my princess, does that mean I can be your purrince?” 

Marinette’s jaw dropped. “Oh no! I forgot that you were Chat for a split second. That means I have to live with your awful puns for the rest of my life, doesn’t it?” 

“Yup. You’re stuck with me furever and ever. If you’ll have me that is.” 

“Furever and ever?” Marinette added with a lovesick smile. “I really do love the sound of that.” 

Adrien beamed a bright smile. “Does that mean I can actually propose to you then?” 

Marinette shot him a deadpanned glare. “Adrien. We’re 17.” 

“And? We’ve been fighting beside each other for four years.” Adrien grabbed onto Marinette’s hands and kissed her knuckles. “I have been in love with you since we were 13 and just learning how to fight. We’ve had to mature and learn a lot about ourselves. But we mostly had to learn to read each other’s movements and thoughts to be in sync in battle. How many people can say they have been in love with their soulmate for four years only to find out their soulmate has loved them back and they didn’t even know it?” 

“Not many, but-” 

“But nothing. I’ve grown to love you for four years. For four years, I’ve learned about the other side of the mask and fall in love with you twice. I know we’re young. I know we have years ahead of us. But I know we will be together until the end of time.” 

Marinette’s eyes watered. 

“You know I don’t have a loving home. You know I spend all my time alone in my room wishing to have someone love me back the way you do. Or even care about me the way you do. I’m not saying let’s get married tomorrow. We can get married 10 years from now, for all I care.” He leaned in closer to emphasize his words “ _and I really, really hope it doesn’t take that long_.” He straightened himself again as she let out a chuckle. “But what I’m saying is, I want to marry you one day. I hope you want to marry me too. It’s our destiny. It’s our bond. It’s me and you against the world.” 

Marinette took a moment to compose herself before allowing the words to rush out of her mouth. Of course, she wanted to marry him – he was the love of her life! But they officially got together only a few hours before. Could she really consider marriage when they have been dating all of five seconds? Well, yes, yes, she could. She even had the wedding planner to prove it. But to actually sit there before him as he spilled out his entire guts? Well, the thought felt comforting and scary at the exact same time. 

Marinette opened her mouth to say something, anything at all to Adrien, but the words fell on deaf ears when a buzzing alert rang on both of their phones. 

“Akuma...” They said in unison. 

They looked to each other with fierce determination, ready to take charge in this new way together. 

“Are you ready, my lady?” 

“Ready as ever, Chaton.” 

“Plagg?-” 

“Tikki?-” 

“-Claws out!” 

“-Spots on!” 


	31. Time Travel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to finish the story with a long winded chapter! Sorry guys. I hope you enjoy!

Ladybug and Chat Noir bounced out of Marinette’s bedroom, making their way to the area the akuma was last seen. Lost Time was hanging out at Lycée Carnot when he called out for the victim he wanted. 

“Where are you, ma chère Marinette? 

“Marinette?” Ladybug questioned quietly as they perched silently on the building nearest to their high school. “What does he want with me?” 

“Are you sure it’s for you, milady? Maybe it’s for another Marinette.” 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” He drawled out. Ladybug stared at Chat with an eye roll and Chat pursed his lips in a bit of protective haste. 

“Who is that and why is he calling for you?” 

Ladybug stared at the akuma for a long moment to figure out who the akuma could have been. Trying to denote the features and build, she gasped as one person came to mind. 

“Jules?” 

Chat was about to question who this Jules-person was but Ladybug beat him to it. “He’s in my art program. He’s been flirting with me and I’ve been trying to stop it without being rude, never giving in to what he was saying because of being in love with you and all. He did ask me out once, but I turned him down as gently as I could.” She looked over to Chat and Chat’s eyes were narrowed and filled with a bit of jealousy. “Knock it off. I didn’t want to date him and as you can see, I’m with you.” 

Chat’s ears drooped and he knew she was right. “Sorry.” 

She placed a caring hand on his wrist. “Hey. It’s alright, Chat. Let’s focus on the akuma, okay?” When Chat smiled and nodded in agreement, she turned back to stare at the akuma. “But why? Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?” 

“You rather hang out with a cat than spend time with me?” Lost Time laughed bitterly. “Why don’t you show your face to me. Then I can show you how to have a real good time.” 

Both Ladybug and Chat smacked their foreheads and groaned. 

“I’m surprised Alya didn’t say anything to me when we talked earlier.” 

“Nino didn’t message me either to see if I had seen the photo. It must have happened over the last few hours or so when we were... you know” He waggled his brows. 

Ladybug continued and ignored Chat’s false innuendo. “Either that, or someone placed it on social media before Alya found out about it and that’s how he found out.” 

“But then that means people are going to think you’re dating Chat Noir. 

“Even though I am....” She added with a wink and a flick to his bell. “Well, whatever the reasoning, we have a lot to figure out so we don’t expose you, Chat.” 

“Yay...” He said sarcastically. “Alright, LB. What’s the plan?” 

“Well, I’m going to need you to bring me there... as Marinette.” 

“Ladybug, no. I can’t. 

“It’s okay. I trust you to protect me, okay?” 

Chat gave her a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll protect you. I promise.” 

Ladybug detransformed and Marinette stood in her place. “Okay, Chat. He’s going to be angry at you, so you’ll need to drop me down somewhere below and I’ll walk over to him. Keep close to me in the shadows and if something seems wrong, come get me. I won’t know where the akuma is hiding until I get closer. He doesn’t seem very irrational, at least, not right now. We’ll see in a bit.” 

Chat dropped her down to the alleyway. When she felt okay enough to move forward, she nodded at Chat to hide. She meekly popped her head out of the alleyway and made her way to Lost Time. 

“Jules?” Marinette called out, nervously. 

“Marinette!” He announced, happily. Marinette walked closer to him; her hands were clutched to her heart to act like it was out of fear. “Please do not be scared. I won’t hurt you.” 

Marinette finally reached him, her eyes constantly searching for an object that didn’t make sense to his wardrobe. She noticed he was wearing all black, numbers and empty clock ticks scattered all over his clothes in neon greens, purples, and yellows. His eyes were covered in translucent green shades, while his hands were covered with purple gloves. The only thing that stood out was a silver watch on his wrist. 

“Jules? What happened. Why are you like this?” 

His demeanor changed from happy to angry. “I’m not Jules. I’m Lost Time.” He started. “You. You broke my heart, Marinette. I have been flirting with you, talking with you, even asking you out, and yet you go out with that mangy tom cat? What does he have that I don’t?” 

“Chat Noir took me out dancing because I was upset. But he is my best friend and he surprised me. Please, Jules. There’s nothing to be upset about.” 

“Lies!” He screamed causing Marinette to take a step back. “I saw you dancing with him. I saw you holding him the way you did. I saw that you almost kissed him if it wasn’t for the fireworks scaring you apart. Don’t you dare lie to me with that nonsense. I. Saw. You! The pictures on Instagram don’t lie.” 

Okay, so she was definitely going to have to wheedle her way out of this one somehow. But this also meant that she couldn’t date Adrien publicly right away until this entire mess is fixed. 

“Okay, okay. Yes, we almost kissed. I won’t lie to you. I get why you’re upset, but please, I didn’t want to hurt you.” 

“I lost my chance with you. Lost my time to be with you. Haven’t you ever felt like you lost time?” He said, his voice strained from the pain. 

“I know how that feels, Jules. Please trust me. I lost so much time with someone because of my own fault. Because of my own insecurities. I get it.” 

“Well, I don’t care how you feel because I’m hurt and the only way to fix this is if I give Hawkmoth Ladybug and Chat Noir’s miraculous.” The butterfly mask covered Lost Time’s eyes and as quickly as it came, it was gone. “Lucky for me, Hawkmoth gave me a great idea.” 

Lost Time lunged at Marinette and she ran towards where she felt Chat would be hiding. Running quickly behind her, she could feel Lost Time gaining speed. Marinette looked over her shoulder and her eyes blew wide when he stuck out his arm and a ball of light started to form over his watch. Using his index and middle fingers, he pushed the beam out towards her. 

Chat Noir jumped out just in time to leap her out of the way from a blast of light. Lost Time groaned out in anger as he watched Chat pick up Marinette bridal style off to an area where he could safely put her down. 

A few more beams of light pounced towards them, one actually hitting them and engulfing them in a translucent light. 

“Bye-bye kitty cat. I wonder how you’re Ladybug is going to do without her protector around.” 

* * *

Marinette woke up splayed out on the roof of a building. Chat was already awake, rubbing his head as he overlooked his position. 

“Chat?” Marinette groaned out as she sat herself up. 

Chat ran over to Marinette and helped her up. “Hey are you okay?” 

“Yeah, yeah. I feel woozy, but I’m okay.” She looked up at him and could see a bruise forming on his forehead. She pushed his hair away to look at the injury better. “You have a bump. Are you okay?” 

“Besides that, yeah. I’m okay. We’re still in Paris, but it isn’t our timeline anymore.” 

“What do you mean?” Marinette said, confused. Chat pointed to a billboard over on the other side of the rooftop where it showed an older Adrien Agreste wearing a fitted black suit, a black button down with the silver buttons with an “M” inscribed on each one, and a signature red tie. He gave the camera a smoldering look, a slight smirk pulling at the edge of his lips, while his thumb pulled his bottom lip down just a tiny bit. 

“Damn, Adrien.” Marinette said, fanning herself. “You age amazingly.” 

“That’s not all, Marinette. Look in the corner.” 

Marinette looked and noticed a change in who Adrien was modeling for. “MDC? But that’s my symbol. That’s my signature.” She turned to him. “I- I made it?” 

Chat gave her a tight squeeze. “I always knew you could do it.” 

“I don’t mean to rain on your parade, but...” 

Chat and Marinette turned around and noticed three figures standing on the rooftop. 

“Hey Minibug, Kitty Noir!” Bunnyx waved at them, excitedly. “We were wondering when you were going to show up.” 

“Bunnyx? Ladybug? Chat Noir?” Marinette called out, looking at each one. 

“Hey you two.” The older Ladybug called out. Her hair was out of her signature pigtails and into a ponytail. Her suit had changed too. She wore a red and black spotted high collar jacket over a black skin tight suit and gloves with a pair of red and black spotted thigh-high boots. She looked to be about 25 if Marinette had to guess. 

“Nice of you to _beam_ in.” The older Chat Noir said making younger Chat laugh out in a fit of giggles. His suit looked exactly the same except his zipper went down a little to where his bell used to sit. His hair was a high fade with longer teased locks dripped over to one side. He had a more muscular build, but overall looked as good as the billboard they spotted him on. 

“I can see that I don’t stop punning, huh?” Younger Chat Noir finally said. 

“Not at all, mini-me. We actually get better with our puns.” 

“Told you Marinette. You’ll have to live with this furrever!” 

“He’s right you know.” Older Ladybug teased. She walked up to Marinette and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gave Marinette a confident smile. “I can at least tell you this much. It’s okay you know. I remember this whole akuma and I remember what I had told myself right before the alert came out.” She quickly looked over at the older Chat Noir who was chatting away with his younger self. She knew he was going to give the same speech but with an added pun or two to break the ice. “He’s not wrong in his pre-proposal, even though he couldn’t wait 5 seconds after revealing himself.” 

Marinette looked over to Chat and he was positively beaming. Older Ladybug leaned down and whispered something to her ear. “Keep this between you and me, but Adrien is going to need something positive to keep his focus on. It’s going to be a big year for both of you in so many ways. I won’t give away too much because I don’t want the future to change over something I said, but remember to follow his lead on some things, give him all the love you know he deserves, and always keep working together, no matter how hard some moments become.” 

Marinette looked up with a frown. “Okay. I promise you I will.” 

“I know you will.” Ladybug stood back up and looked over to Chat to see if he had finished his part of their conversation. When older Chat Noir looked up, they nodded towards each other in silent communication over their next move. 

“Alright. We are all here to bring these two back to their timeline. Marinette. You are going to be bait. Mini-kitty. You’re going to keep tabs on her and be by her side the entire time. You are going to lure him out and then capture the akuma. I’ll be on standby to help purify the akuma since Marinette can’t do it. Kitty, I want you to stand by in case something goes wrong. Bunnyx. You keep an eye out to make sure the akuma isn’t messing up the time line. Everyone got it?” 

“Got it.” Everyone said in unison. 

Ladybug called out for her Lucky Charm and a ring dropped into her hands. Ladybug winked at Marinette and older Chat Noir let out a happy chuckle as he crossed his arms and shook his head. 

“I remember this. Mini-kitty. That one’s for you.” 

Mini-kitty beamed again and Marinette looked over to him with a happy sigh. “Later kitty. Okay?” 

“Okay!” 

Chat took out his baton and helped bring the two of them back onto the ground. They called out for Lost Time. 

“Jules!” Marinette yelled; her hands wrapped around her mouth like a megaphone. “Jules, come out. Can we talk?” 

Chat followed her lead. “Jules? Lost Time? I wanted to apologize. You can have Marinette! I’m not in love with her! I just got caught up in the moment.” Marinette stopped for a second and stared at him. 

“What?” He said with a shrug. “We have to lure him out somehow.” 

Marinette went back to calling. “Jules? Please come ou-” 

A bright light appeared and Lost Time dropped onto the street in front of them. “Well, well, well. You are giving up on her that easily? I told you Marinette, he’s not worth it.” 

Marinette ran up to the akuma and grabbed onto his hands. “You’re right, Jules. I’m so sorry for never giving you a chance.” She lowered her hands until it rested on his forearms. “Could you ever forgive me for how I rejected you?” 

Jules narrowed his eyes but a hint of a smile could be seen. He gazed into her bright blue eyes. “Do you- do you really mean that?” 

“Yes. Jules. Secretly, I liked you. I was just too enamored with my old crush to see the truth.” Marinette placed one hand on his cheek as she continued to lower her other hand until it reached the watch. “So how about that date?” 

“Da- date?” The akuma swallowed, still staring into her eyes. 

“Of course.” She continued until she reached the watch, unclasping it from its spot and throwing it behind her. 

“Chat!” She screamed out, throwing the watch in his direction. 

Chat called out his cataclysm, grasping onto the watch as it disintegrated into ash. Ladybug and older Chat Noir dropped down beside their younger selves and Ladybug captured the akuma, purifying it into the white butterfly. 

Bunnyx dropped down beside the older duo, and the three winked as they managed quick goodbyes. 

Ladybug called out for her Miraculous Ladybug and as quickly as they arrived, they were back to their original timeline. 

“Time travel is weird.” Marinette said to Chat as he nodded to agree. 

After Chat made sure the akuma victim was alright and Marinette talked over the problem with Jules, Chat Noir helped Marinette onto his back, bouncing over the rooftops until they reached her balcony. 

“So that was a wild ride, huh Marinette?” 

Chat detransformed and Adrien wrapped his arms around Marinette’s waist. 

“You’re telling me.” Marinette nuzzled her nose into his neck. “So, Ladybug told me something today.” 

“And what’s that bug?” 

“That I should follow my heart.” 

Adrien pulled away from her for a second and scrunched his nose. “Well, what is your heart telling you?” 

“That you’re right and if you still want an answer to your question, I can give you an answer.” 

Adrien waited with bated breath. “If you really don’t want to wait to propose to me, then I won’t make you wait. When you’re ready, ask me. I already know my answer.” 

He smiled brightly, his pearly white teeth beaming in the moonlight. “Well don’t make me wait bug. What’s your answer?” 

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a long, but gentle, kiss. When she pulled away to take a breath, she leaned her forehead against his and peered into his glossy green eyes. 

“Yes.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to say thank you all for all the kudos and comments. I never planned on writing this story, but my Marichat heart could not hold out from writing it.
> 
> Thank you for hanging out with me these last 31 days and I hope you enjoyed the final chapter.


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